Mini Vacation

When Raj and I first started dating, he suggested we take a short trip to Gatlinburg TN for the weekend. This was about our third week of dating and it was at that suggestion that I knew this was the man of excitement that I had been waiting for (and boy was he!). Since then, Gatlinburg has become sort of special to us. We've been three times now! This last one was this last memorial day weekend.

I wanted to do something extra special for him this Valentines. In Feb. he came home after visiting his parents in India for a whole month. He came back the day before Vday and even though he was exhausted and jet lagged he wined and dined me, I owed it to him! I was lucky enough to come into some money at that time, and while I admit it was a fast, not so smart decision, I booked us a cabin in Gatlinburg for our four day weekend (but as usual, SO worth it).

Waiting almost four months to go was super hard, but so worth the wait. As usual we had a blast. The view from these cabins is phenomenal. We love grilling, and sitting in the hot tub with a drink in hand. This particular cabin had a pool table even. I think Raj and I were due for a relaxing weekend (me especially, after this terribly exhausting school year!). 

If you've never been here, I HIGHLY suggest it. It can easily be a romantic vacation, one for a family, anything. There are tons of attractions and gift shops, not to mention the Smoky Mountain State Park, one of the most beautiful drives you could have.

Our cabin was amazing. Hot tub outside, giant garden tub inside, full kitchen, washer/dryer, grill, AND a pool table in the loft ( just to name a few! )

I don't get to grill at home as much as I'd like. Mosly because our grill sucks, and we could never get this kind of view from a grill at home! We grilled ribs, steak, and corn on the cob. I had made Raj a deal on the steak. He was saying he was full after two bites, so I said if he finished ALL of it, I'd buy him a pair of Nike's . . . he ate it all haha.

For $15 each we were able to rice a lift up the mountain. The view is incredible and we were so lucky that it was such a beautiful day!

While this treat was a bit costlier, we took a helicopter ride! So beautiful!

I thought I would share our trip. If anyone is trying to plan something for this summer, I highly recommend checking out Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge Tennessee USA. Totally worth it!

All of us, including our pup Zoe, had a great time!

My boyfriend's friends'

Hello! It's been far too long since I've posted. I'm in the final months of my program and things have been terribly busy! Rather than taking time I don't have to cook, I've been prepping my meals weekly (this also doubles to help in weight loss!) so I haven't had any new recipes to publish, don't worry though, I have tons more to share.

I had something on my mind tonight and I thought I should write about it. Raj has some amazing friends. I've had boyfriends in the past who had friends that I truly didn't care for. Everyone of Raj's friends that I've met so far have been some of the nicest, sweetest people I've ever met.

I had met other Indian's, in college. They all seemed so quiet, stand offish, and shy. I shouldn't generalize and I don't mean to, but this is just in my experience, so Raj and his friends came as a surprise! I feel that they've all been very supportive of our relationship, and that means so much!

Despite the fact that most of his friends now live far away, out of state, we do have one that lives in the same complex as we do. We hang out often!Yesterday he invited us over to try his culinary skills, and he whipped up this big, amazing dinner for us. It was very touching actually.

Raj enjoying that awesome dinner!

So, for those of you in a multicultural relationship, how do you get along with your significant others' friends?

Valentine's Day 2015

We had quite a lovely Valentines Day this year. Raj was in India for a month for his sister's wedding and to visit with his family. He got home on February 13th. Just in time!

Even though we live in Indianapolis, we make the long trek to Chicago O'Hare because he can fly out cheaper from there. We decided that instead of rushing back home that Friday, we would just stay in Chicago and spend our V-Day there!

I picked Raj up around 3 p.m. It was SO wonderful to FINALLY see him after a whole month. That was the longest we had been separated since we started dating. It's kind of a weird feeling at first, but we quickly got over that and was right back to normal!

Raj had booked us a nice hotel. We decided that since we were in Chicago, it was probably best to do our V-Day dinner that Friday instead of trying to fight the crowds on the actual 14th.

We went to Giordano's for some deep dish pizza (and margaritas!). Raj and I agree that it was the best pizza we'd ever eaten in our lives.

We decided on a medium deep dish with BBQ chicken and green peppers. OM NOM NOM. This made for amazing cold leftovers the next day.

After dinner we decided to go back to the hotel. Raj was pretty jet lagged and I was impressed he was even able to go out for dinner that night.

So, the actual V-Day was no less spectacular! Raj took me to the Willis Tower (previously known as Sears Tower). At first I wasn't too thrilled. I mean it didn't sound all too exciting, but I rather enjoyed myself. Aside from being ridiculously cold, we had a great time!

After that we spent a little time on Devon Street (otherwise known as "Little India". I'd never been and it was really cool seeing all the Sari shops and stores that sold Hindi movies. I finally got a marble chakla. The man selling it to us was like "you roll chapatti?" hahaha! If only he knew!

Then we had to make the looooong drive back home, but a three hour car ride with Raj after a month apart is nothing to complain about! =)

So, you won't be having an arranged marriage?

How did I manage to snag a man who comes from a world tied to the idea and tradition of arranged marriages? Honestly, I'm still asking myself how I managed to do so!

When I first started dating Raj, he told me very early on that this relationship could be very hard. His parents may not take well to the news of him having an American girlfriend. In his culture, dating is happening more and more, but it's still pretty taboo. It didn't help either that I was American.

Why? Why would it matter that I'm American? Several reasons really. Indian's have their stereotypes of American women. Most of them are easily understandable, but that doesn't mean it applies to all of us. In Indian society the bond between parent and child is like nothing I've ever seen. They are extremely close. Making ones parents unhappy is a huge no-no.

Raj and I were both so nervous about telling his parents. Early in our relationship I used to google silly things trying to find other American girls who have gone through similar situations. Many of them said to RUN from Indian boys who refused to ever tell their parents. A lot of times these girls would be with their Indian man for years, and perhaps even have a child together, never telling the parents. Then the boy would visit home and just one day come back (or not even come back) . . . having had an arranged marriage to an Indian girl.

I was horrified. There was no way I could handle something so painful!

BUT, I wouldn't have to. I found myself an honest, genuine person.

He told his family pretty early on. I think he told his sister first, then his dad, and then his mom. I'm not sure that he's ever really given me the full play by play of that conversation, and I'll probably never know how it blew over, but I think it must have been tense.

However, they've tolerated it. At least, as far as what Raj was telling me. Every once in awhile he would relay to me comments they had made and I felt really disheartened. Here I was falling crazy for this boy and I didn't know if we could be together. I fully understood that he comes from a culture entirely different from mine, and that if he had to do what he had to in order to please his parents, I would accept that the best I could.

When I finally got to meet his family, it was hard to say the least. I was terrified the whole time. It's not just the language, and cultural barrier. I was there with his mama bear! I had to tread very carefully. I know it was a hard trip for her, especially seeing us living together (this is something you almost NEVER see in India, it's not considered a good thing)

I did fall in love with his family though. I've never met a more united and close family in my life, and in heart they are all such goodhearted people. I don't know what happened or how, but it truly seems as though they've come around.

Raj is in India currently to attend his sister's wedding and just today he texted me that everyone is missing me and the relatives that know about us (only the close family knows so far) have been asking about me. That's such a wonderful, uplifting feeling! I've found myself really growing fond of his family. After all, if t wasn't for them I wouldn't have Raj!

I hope this can be of some encouragement. Just as Indians may have stereotypes of us American women, we too have our stereotypes of Indian men. Any type of stereotyping is wrong because in the end we are all human, some of us just bound to cultural tradition. Never let a steroetype or a bad story keep you from being with someone, because had I let that get to me, I'd be missing out on the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

How It Started

This way Raj and I came into our relationship is embarrassing to say the least. It's nothing major, but we like to shy away from how it really came to be. We hated the "so how did you guys meet?" question. Our answers ranged from "we met at school" (we didn't even go to the same school!) to "he was a friend of a friend". These inconsistencies quickly caught up with us, so I might as well say the truth and get it out.

Deep breath . . .

Okay. We met on craigslist. Yes, craigslist. I supposed in today's world couples meeting online isn't a rare occurrence, but for some reason it doesn't feel like something to be proud of. I don't know, maybe it's just me being weird.

I was in my final semester at Indiana State, and one night I decided to make a random post on the personals section. I never intended for this to lead to anything. I figured I'd make an honest posting and get a little amusement out of whoever decided to reply. Most people sent unwanted photo's that were inappropriate, or didn't reply back. A couple of people gave me a small amount of entertainment, but otherwise it was just wanted I expected. A time pass.

However. I got an email from this guy, Raj Singh. He's reply was pretty simple. It didn't tell me much about himself, but I had this instinct that told me to pursue this one.

We sent a few emails back and forth and eventually I did give him my number. His first text to me was "yello" to which I replied "I'm not yellow" and the rest is history. We really hit it off, as much as people who'd never met in person could hit it off. We texted like crazy and skyped once or twice. It wasn't all that long before we decided to meet.

I was still living in Terre Haute finishing my degree, and  he was finishing up an engineering internship in Indianapolis. He didn't have a car at the time, so it was up to me to go there.

Let me tell you, it was the scariest thing I'd ever done in my life. So many times I almost convinced myself to just go back home, but I didn't. I just felt like I really had to meet him. What if he was a serial killer? Or what if he met me and was like "oh my god, just no?".

When I got to his apartment he met me outside and hugged me first thing. We just hung out that day talking and watching movies (at least, attempting to, if we could have stopped talking!).

After that we were hooked. I would look forward to every weekend so I could come see him, or he would come and see me. We really hit it off. Not to get all gross and sappy, but I'd never felt that way about anyone else the way I do Raj. He's definitely the "partner in crime" I'd always hoped for.