Five Years of Bryan

September 2005, I met Bryan the president of Mock Turtle Soup when I was cast in the comedy ensemble. He was hilarious, I was learning to be and we became friends.

Five years ago today, Bryan asked me out to dinner in Greenville. The next night, we attend Big Bash together.
In the year that followed, we went to Disney World, learned how to cook and went to improv festivals together.


On our first anniversary in 2007, we went to the Melting Pot.
In the year that followed, we started our improv duo Red Letters, started the humor publication The Rapscallion, attended improv festivals and had the infamous cinnamon chicken incident.

On our second anniversary in 2008 in Clemson, we celebrated our engagement that happened April 2, with another trip to the Melting Pot. Here we are celebrating our engagement with Bryan's parents.
In the year that followed, I graduated with my BA, we lived semi-long distance, planned a wedding, hated the 4 hour commute between NC and SC, performed and taught at DSI, and received a ton of wonderful gifts for our home.

On our third anniversary in 2009 in Chapel Hill, we celebrated by performing shows at DSI and taking a middle of the week date to the Melting Pot.
In the year that passed, Bryan graduated with his PhD, we performed some more, he got a job in Philly, and we moved. We also experienced our first blizzard. Then our second. Then our third.

On our fourth anniversary in 2010 in Philadelphia, we celebrated with (can you guess?) another trip to the Melting Pot.
In the year that followed, we performed more comedy, went to Disney World, and tried making sushi (fail). Bryan got a tenure-track job offer in Oklahoma, and we debated it for awhile before deciding to make the big move. We also had our first ice storm and tornado.

On our fifth anniversary in 2011 in Oklahoma, today we are celebrating! The closest Melting Pot is an hour and a half away in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It will be the first anniversary we haven't gone to the Melting Pot. We are going to the only fancy restaurant in town!

Chicago, March 2011

I think it's very indicative of how things are changing in our relationship. We're in a very different part of the US, we're away from our friends, and we're having to give up luxuries like Target, Melting Pot, malls, dance clubs for a more simple, more practical life. It's not easy, and we're not any less fun - we just have to be more creative and more reliant on each other.

I'm looking forward to the next five years with Bryan. He's sweet, successful, hilarious and handsome. I'm the Luckiest. Bryan, I love you.

Love

“To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I."


“Love is an expression and assertion of self-esteem, a response to one's own values in the person of another. One gains a profoundly personal, selfish joy from the mere existence of the person one loves. It is one's own personal, selfish happiness that one seeks, earns, and derives from love.”

Ayn Rand

Happy Easter!

Easter is here! Yesterday, Bryan organized an egg hunt in our house. Here's how it ended.

Last night, we was a'lookin like this:

70s themed cast party

Now, we're looking like this:

Okay, maybe not as cute.

This morning, I'm heading to a First Baptist Church down the road for Sunday School. It's my first time going to this church, and I couldn't make the 11 o'clock service due to my Easter Dinner in Missouri with all of Bryan's family. I'm going with my two work friends who share a taste for adventure and holidays.

I'm looking forward to the discussion today and my first Oklahoma church experience. And the huge gathering of Buckleys in Neosho. And the food, I hear Nancy Buckley is a fabulous cook!

Trips That I'm Excited About

One thing about living in Oklahoma that I'm not crazy about is how far we are from friends and family. After spending almost a year here, we've realized how important visiting friends and family is - and we made a point to start up a travel budget.

Here's what we have to look forward to this year:
April 29-May 2 A trip to Orlando to see my family

May 13-May 15 A trip to Clemson to see Bryan's family and celebrate Brooke's graduation!http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

June 2-June 5 A trip to Philadelphia to perform comedy in the National Duofest

June 29-July 5 We're hosting Bryan's family. Hoping to get that living room painted then!
July 28-July 31 A trip to Oklahoma City to perform at the Improv Festival and see THE Zach Ward

October 20-October 23 A trip to South Carolina for the wedding of the lovely Adrienne Rankin to the hilarious Ben Burris

November 23-November 27 A trip to Florida for Thanksgiving

December 22-December 28 A trip to South Carolina for Christmas


Oh, I love traveling! Our home has a guest bedroom, and we'd love to have you. I'll take you to the great places here in Tahlequah. If you want us to visit you, let me know!

Sex and the Lady Body

I was reading this great article from Ok Trends based on information provided by the users on OK Cupid. It has ten charts about sex.

I found this one interesting.


As someone currently trying to tone up before summer, it's interesting to think about curvy versus skinny. I know that most men prefer a curvy woman with a butt, hips and nice breasts, but it was great to see that those women prefer sex more, are actually sexier.

Hooray for bodies like this:


And not these:

Because she won't have sex with you.

Thoughts from a Lady Wanting Design

This is what my living room looks like now:
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
It's got the same white walls that came with the house. And that awful brown/purple trim. I love our couches, our tables and our art (all ala Ikea). I'm thinking it needs a little sprucing up. Maybe I've been reading my designer friends Callie and Eileen's blogs too much.

When my inlaws come to visit in July, I'm hoping we can make painting some rooms in the house part of the itinerary!

Here are my inspirational pictures:






I like the light gray with bright white trim next to the wood floors. I think it will go great with our couches, furniture and art. I think I'll have to splurge on some new pillows, too! Yellow maybe? What do you think?

Homemade Fireworks (Boom!)

Last night was the last show of the year for Homemade Fireworks.



We did a competitive improv show: The Remaining Poets Society versus Rebecca Black and the Partyers. I got to ref, and Bryan was on lights and sound. It was a great show, and I'll be putting their mini La Rhonde online for all to see.

Today, we celebrate their accomplishments as the inaugural cast of Homemade Fireworks at a party hosted by me and Bryan. Burgers, hot dogs, my (famous) macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and Paula Deen's banana pudding. Plus beer, Smirnoff and some punch. I love parties, and I love these kids. I'll be sad to see the graduating ones leave, but I've got some embarrassing awards to hand out today, so I'll get some final memories before they go.

Grieve: Philadelphia

I loved living in Philadelphia. The big city, the arts, the improv scene, the shopping (KING OF PRUSSIA MALL!)the proximity to NYC and DC, the city people, and of course, the cheesesteak!


Since living in Philadelphia, I have yet to have a Philly cheesesteak anywhere else. I actually get offended when I see it on menus out here in Oklahoma. I refuse to eat any cheesesteak not made by Philly hands.

I praise the cheesesteak, the fried onion covered joy. The bread with its crunchy outside and it's gooey cheesy soft center. The meat, oh yes, a huge mound of thinly sliced beef grilled and dripping with grease, overflowing. Made by some bulky guy in a white tee who has no patience for someone who can't order "steak wit wiz." Don't you dare say provolone! It's wiz, cheese wiz. Oh, I miss my steaks.

My favorites were

Steaks on South


and

Jim's


We were active in the improv scene in Philadelphia, making 'em laugh at the PHIT and in Olde Town (sold out shows) with the N Crowd. The people up there are great, and they're with the groups at festivals that people love to see. We had a fabulous time as a part of these teams. The very sweet Matt Nelson wrote this piece about us moving away from Philadelphia.

While I may not live in Philadelphia again, Bryan and I were invited to perform at the annual Duofest in Philadelphia run by our friends. I am so excited to be back in Philly! To perform, to see friends and to eat my cheesesteak!

I'm legit Mrs. Buckley!

After two years, four months and nine days, I can finally sign my name Alyssa Buckley and it looks like my name!


I was really attached to my signature of Alyssa Mander, my M was so beautiful. I couldn't get the B right and then the "ckle" part always looked either too forced (BUCKLEY) or too sloppy (BULLEY). Today, as I am writing the bills to AT&T, I found the perfect signature. Slightly sloppy, but definitely Buckley.

Wife accomplishment. Gimme more bills to sign!

It's Friday, Friday!

Happy Friday, friends and fools! If you're on the internet or if you watch tv, you probably have seen Rebecca Black or heard of her hit youtube music video.


According to the all knowing Wikipedia, the song received negative critical response, with many music critics and viewers dubbing it the "worst song ever". The music video, uploaded to YouTube, has received over 88 million views as of April 7, 2011, propelling Black into the limelight as a "viral star."

It's fabulously awful. And comedians are having a good time with it.

Here, Stephen Colbert sings the lyrics in his own way on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.


My friend and producer of OKC Improv, Eric Webb visited LA last weekend and saw James Urbaniak (voice of Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture) performing a spoken word version of the very newly classic meme Rebecca Black's "Friday."


Even the star herself gets in on the funny with this video for Funny or Die with an in-depth look at which seat she should take.

Which Seat Should I Take? w/ Rebecca Black from Rebecca Black

Delight: Jokes

Sorry to disappoint you guys, but the previous post was a lie. We will be living in Oklahoma this fall and until further notice. This is our home, y'all!

Also, while we are putting rumors to bed, I am also not pregnant.

Some truth: Bryan and I are performing tonight in Oklahoma City. We're doing our duo for all the lovely people there. It's going to be fabulous as we are on the heels of some fantastic Chicago-style training.


Also, I finally convinced Bryan to start up our video blog again. Look forward to some Oklahoma comedy coming soon!

BIG NEWS: We're moving!

This past fall, Bryan applied to a few different schools for next fall, and we just found out that he got the job!

We're moving back to South Carolina! Bryan will be an Assistant Professor at Furman University ! (Furman was a school I considered when I was thinking about college, mostly because they were FU. )

This is a really big, really exciting step for us. We'll be back in the upstate living in Greenville, close to friends and close to Bryan's family in Easley. We're excited, and I can't wait to start packing!!