Q+A with the Olsons

Someone asked me what Erik and I do for fun together and how much time we get to spend together so I thought I would answer that here.

Since Erik got his new job as a case worker we've been able to spend much more time together. When he was an evening coordinator we would see each other in the evenings that he didn't work and the mornings that I didn't have class and that was all -- probably only a couple days a week. We now have the opportunity to spend every evening together and weekends. When I come back from Africa I will have my final practicum (shift work) and then I will hopefully land a job so I can't say what our time together will look like in the near future, but for now we probably spend five nights a week together and many of those nights are spent with friends.

My favorite times are snuggled in bed together in the mornings or the evenings talking about whatever is on our minds. On Sunday mornings we stay in bed extra long (Church isn't until 10) and Erik asks me questions about myself... just for fun.

I feel like I have more of a desire to be with him; I would put him in my pocket and carry him around with me if I could. I don't mean that he doesn't like me, but he likes time alone and I like taking my alone time when he is still around. I'm needy like that. I also think that it is easy to spend a lot of time with friends rather than alone because we don't have kids yet so our time together can be devoted entirely to each other.

What do we do when we are together?? Well, our funds are tied up with practical things like school and bills, so we don't "go on dates". We both prefer the summer because we get to do all our favorite hobbies -- hiking, walking, swimming, playing frisbee, reading by the lake, camping, taking long drives, going on road trips, bocce, biking, and pretty much anything we can do outdoors.

When the weather isn't so nice we still go on walks, but we also enjoy playing cribbage, doing sudoku's together, doing crosswords, playing boggle, snuggling up with a good book (Erik sometimes reads to me), and watching a couple TV shows (our favorite is Bones).

At any time of year we enjoy loose-leaf tea, shopping in little boutiques, perusing antique stores and used book stores, visiting 'Mom and Pop Shops", checking out pottery, and looking at neat little shops in general. We always enjoy visiting with family and friends, playing games with them,chatting, and just hanging out. And, when the opportunity presents itself, we love boating, 4x4ing, quadding, and sledding.

I'm sure there are plenty of other things we enjoy together, but that is what we have quickly come up with for you. It was nice to go over this together just before leaving for Africa -- it makes me excited to come home! I'm going to miss him.