Anticipation

Tomorrow morning I'm looking forward to a full bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats. It's been nearly a week and a half since we've had cereal in this house and in case anyone was wondering, cereal is my comfort food. I've seriously been craving it.

It should be noted that...

around 8 p.m. on Friday, April 25, 2008, the boyfriend got down on one knee and asked a life altering question and because of an affirmative response, he became my fiance!

Thought I'd share a few photos:

First he gave me this (so very much a J thing to do and I loved it!).

Followed by this gorgeous (not well photographed) ring that he expertly picked out himself. It has a round center stone with two small diamond chips on each side and the rest of the band is engraved with details on the top and side. I love it!
And my less than professional, extend the arm to take our photo a few minutes after the proposal produced this.

It's very challenging to be so far away from each other right now, but we both see God working in many ways in our life in the places where we are. But, we very much look forward to starting our life together soon! God has truly blessed me with this amazing man!

Gaming

I grew up in a family of game players and I love the idea of playing games, but somehow rarely get around to it. But recently, I've been trying to back to playing some games again. The last visit the boyfriend and I had with his brother and sister-in-law we played euchre. And this weekend I taught the boyfriend how to play Sequence. He liked it so much he wants me to bring it along on my northerly journey this week. So, yesterday I'm at work and I noticed a stack of used games that had just come in (for anyone that doesn't know, the place I work purchases used books, music, movies, games, etc.). What was there, Sequence! I quickly set it aside for J and I. For the low, low price of $8, I purchased all the pictured games--Sequence, Backgammon, Cribbage, Skip-Bo, Murder mystery party game. My find of the week!

Doesn't J look like he's enjoying Sequence?

Let him eat cake!

It would appear that you should not stand between a three-year-old and his much anticipated Monsters Inc. birthday cake. He ate all of his cake and ice cream and wanted "more."

Something different for this midwest girl

So, I turned out my light around 2 a.m. to sleep (very much too late, but I got caught up working on a project). I woke up around 5:40 and my bed was shaking. In my disoriented sleep state I wondered if my cell phone, which was on vibrate, was up against my bed (like a tiny phone could shake a bed, wow was I out of it!). And I started looking around in the dark for some source for the shaking. Then I hear a commotion the hallway outside my door, Mom and a couple other people talking. I wondered why they were getting up while it was still dark to get ready for their day trip to Columbus. And then I went back to sleep. I got up around 7:30 and started puttering around my room working on organizing myself for the day. Mom opened the door a bit later and said, "Did you feel the earthquake?" And then my early morning, bed shaking grogginess explained itself. An earthquake, here? What an unusual way to start the day here in the Midwest.
Somehow I didn't feel the second quake and this time I was awake and outside with my nephews. Strange, isn't it?

Being the boss

This is my tired, but satisfied smile. Today was an actual very productive day at work. Late last week my manager asked me to do a project at work that I truly did not have time for and wasn't particularly my responsibility, but what could I say besides, sure. So, today I set out to accomplish the project. Thankfully I had a large chunk of free time to do it and some willing helpers who didn't seem to mind my "bossing" them around. (Really, I was just the go-to person.) I finished the book move as completely as I could 2 minutes before I was to go home. I like days like that. Plus, the sun was shining and I was able to take my lunch break outside.

Sunday Celebrations at this Crazy House

When March/April hits it seems like we have a family celebration almost every other weekend. Between these months we have 4 birthdays, 2 anniversaries, and Easter. We have lots of Sunday celebrations as that is the day when most of us can get together. Yesterday was Brother 2's birthday celebration (he turned 17 today) and the family (15 total, minus my dear boyfriend and Sister 3's boyfriend) celebrated with lots of yummy food--Ruben sandwiches, potato fries, cucumber onion salad, Caesar salad, berry jello, and key lime pie--and the usual boisterous hubbub. To give you readers a picture of the delightful chaos that is our family, I took a few photos to share. So, enjoy the organized chaos!

The dining room table group--lots of talking and laughing.

Getting ready to pray before commencing to eat.

The kitchen table group--lots of fun with the little guys.

How many cooks in the kitchen?

The sun is shining! And after a dreary weekend and the fact that its a Monday I am very thankful for the sun. Heres to a pleasant Monday!

Today I am thankful for...

*My Car--I was going to take a picture of her and post it, but as it is now dark and it's rainy, I passed on that idea. However, my gratitude remains. Last year I was able to purchase my first car, a '96 Honda Accord. She's a great little car with a lot of life left in her and as I'm traipsing back and forth across this state with visits north, I'm thankful for the good wheels carrying me. Plus, she's been very companionable. Just last night as I was driving the long, dull 3-hours back from the boyfriends, I sat in complete silence. Seriously, I had no music playing, no radio talking. I just sat with my thoughts and the hum of the car ticking away the miles was the perfect companion as I pondered my of life's great mysteries.

*My Dad--For years he's done my taxes for me. Last year he said I needed to learn to do them myself and as much as I didn't want to do that, I knew it was a good plan. So we did them together. This year he purchased some software to help with the process and he actually did them all himself. A headache for him. A relief for me. He's a great man who does so much for all of us. I am truly blessed.

*My Job--Lately I've felt some dissatisfaction with work. I feel like I'm kind of in a dead-end job that doesn't pay so well and where it doesn't actually matter if I work there. I'm easily replaceable, as everyone is, it's retail. My parents instilled a very strong work ethic in me and I strive and desire to do a good job wherever I am. This can be frustrating because so often that kind of work ethic is taken advantage of and more work is piled on. That's been a small battle for me this year. However, all of that negativity aside, I am thankful for the job. I know that God wanted me there and for the short term He wants me there. I get along well with my co-workers, my boss is a Christian, and I've learned lots about books since I've started. Plus, it's a job.

If I stop to count up the many blessings that God continually bestows on me, this post would be quite long, so for now I'll leave it at that. Although it's always timely to step back and realize the many blessings in life, I always find the beauties of spring a natural encouragement for such thoughts.

Finding the perfect home...

Today was a tiring day, but in that good way where lots was accomplished. The best part of my day was blessing a regular customer with a box of Spanish kids books. Someone previously requested a box of Spanish and religious kids books as a donation for some program they ran. That person never came to pick up her box and it has wallowed in a pile for at least a month now. Today I was finally given the go-ahead to get rid of it, but I really wanted it to go to a good home because it was such a specific box of books. Then just an hour or so later I saw this regular customer who I was fairly certain worked with Spanish speaking children. I asked her if she would like a box of donates and her face lit up and she said, "That would be wonderful! I knew there was a reason I came in here today." The perfect home for that box of books and a smile on my face.

Happy Helpers

You can tell my mom is a grandma...two little boys helping do Sunday dishes isn't exactly a speedy process. But they are so pleased to help and aren't they adorable? (Of course you can't see much from the back.)

Sunday Shoes

It's been ages since I've posted, I know. And I have little to say. But I did want to share my thrift store find with you all. Three pairs of nearly brand new shoes for a mere $9. Do I need bright pink shoes or cute brown shoes with blue flowers? Not really, but they're so cute and great for summer and they were seriously cheep. Now, I'm not one to casually spend money, but I find it hard to turn down my thrifting deals and somehow I rationalize this because I know that I try to be careful with my money. Of course with an attitude like that it would be pretty easy to rationalize a lot, you know?