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?