Love Story Episode V: The Ring Strikes Back

Two years ago on this date, July 11th, the love of my life proposed to me!!!

Giddy with excitement at the engagement party.

If you've been reading/stalking my blog at all, you may remember this post which is part of a series of Star Wars themed posts I had planned about our love story so far.

Yeah, I kind of forgot about that for a little bit. But never fear! I'm back on track!!!

So, when did I really know E was...THE ONE?

I would say I knew I was falling in love with him at...wait for it...about the FOUR MONTH mark!!!

And that was it. I just KNEW. Once I had fallen in love with him, everything that came after just seemed completely natural. I KNEW I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, and although we weren't officially engaged during the early months, I had already made a commitment to him. I was in it for the long haul.

I've asked E when he KNEW and he told me he wanted to propose at about the six month mark (which was when we both officially said "I love you") but was worried I would have said it was too soon :) AW!

I didn't know that at the time, and as the months went on and we started having more and more long term conversations about where we wanted to live, future goals, how many kids we wanted, etc. I started to be on edge and wonder when we would stop dancing around the "marriage" word and get engaged already!

I was really good though. I was patient. I did not once mention any form of the following words: marriage, propose, engaged, wedding, ring, diamond. I didn't want to pressure him and I really was in no rush to get married.

I didn't have to wait long.

It was May of 2009. E and I decided to see the new Star Trek movie (yes, nerds) and grab a couple beers beforehand at Islands. After a couple drinks and pleasantly buzzed conversation, E blurted out this:

"So...do you want to go ring shopping?"

OMGSILENTSQUEAL

"YES! When?"

"This weekend."

"OKAY!"

We were late to the movie, sat in the very front row, and didn't care one bit. We must have had the goofiest smiles on our faces the entire time.

We decided not to tell anyone until it was official which was TORTURE because I wanted to run to the highest mountaintop and shout it to the world. We secretly went ring shopping that weekend and bought a ring right away. Then I waited...and I waited...and I waited...

I knew he had the ring and didn't know when or how he would officially propose.June passed into July. Still no proposal!

On July 4th, we got a surprise call from E's younger sister.

SHE WAS ENGAGED!

Crap! We're getting engaged this summer too!
Then I was nervous because she mentioned she wanted her wedding to be the following summer.
Crap! We wanted our wedding to be next summer too!

It's all clashing! NOOOOOOOOOO! Okay, so I was totally freaking out about nothing because...
The following weekend, an engagement party was planned for E's sister. Before the party, E and I decided to go for a hike at one of our favorite spots.

E packed a picnic lunch and lots of water and we headed out. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to our favorite picnic spot up the mountain because it was a zillion degrees outside. We decided to eat by the lake instead.

Was I suspicious at all at this point? Well, E was very sentimental the whole time and it was so cute. I did wonder...but I truly thought he would wait until a little later because of his sister's recent proposal.

With these thoughts in mind, we sat down. E started unpacking the food and I noticed it was the same food we had on one of our first dates there! Soooo cute! After we ate lunch, E said there was more...

Okay, now I was suspicious. My heart started racing a little bit.

E said it was one of my favorite things and pulled out...BEEF JERKEY!

I laughed as he handed it to me, because it really is one of my favorite things to eat ever. As I was distracted, he said:

"Oh, and one more thing."

That's when I say the red box and E down on one knee. That's when I heard the "Will you..."

That's when I started crying and saying "YES!" I don't remember how many times. We sat on the bench and took it all in. We kissed and hugged and gazed out at the lake. I thought about our future together and how beyond happy I was to know we were getting married. I will never forget that moment.

In the car right after the proposal. 

It's kind of awkward to pose in a way that shows the ring.

Needless to say, the engagement party became a double engagement party. And everyone lived happily ever after!

So, that's what happened exactly two years ago. Some days, I wake up and really can't believe how lucky I am to be married to the love of my life. I've become the cheesiest romantic ever and I don't even care!

Stay tuned for the next installment: Love Story Episode VI: Return of the something clever I haven't thought of yet!

Happy Fourth of July!

Photo via SignonSanDiego

Happy Fourth of July!!! I love the smell of barbecue wafting through the air. I love the controlled explosions of color that are fireworks. 

Most of all, I love celebrating with my family by eating gratuitous amounts of food and wearing lots of red, white, and blue. 

Ah, America.

Have a good one everybody :)

iFail

Yesterday I got an iPhone.

Oooooo...shiny...

Well, that's technically not correct. My mother-in-law gave me her old iPhone 3 last week and I finally mustered up enough energy to get everything transferred over yesterday.

I know everyone and their (his/her?) mom (or mother-in-law...or husband) already has one or something similar. Well, now I have one. Yay!

I've already added wallpaper and two Apps. Woo! I've also discovered my inability to use the touch screen or remember any of my Apple passwords.

Oh boy, I'm sounding more and more like a lame, arthritic, elderly person resistant to all new technology. It's not that I'm resistant, it's just that technology is not really my "thing." I upgrade when I need to or when it makes my life easier. That's just how I roll.

Despite my technological upgrade, I felt kind of fail yesterday. Do you ever have one of those days?

First, I felt frustrated with my lack of iPhone skills. Fail.

Then, my husband and I brought the puppy over the in-laws' house and I spilled beer on this cool digital notebook thing that we were looking at. Fail.

Finally, our puppy decided that after ZERO accidents in over three weeks she would spill her dog urine all over the in-laws' freshly cleaned carpet.

FAIL.

I hope everyone else is having a non-fail weekend.

Bored...

I'm bored.
And it's hot in our apartment
Shouldn't I be doing something productive like laundry?
Yeah, I really should be doing laundry because I have to clean clothes,
Also, the pile of dirty laundry has morphed into a monster and taken over our bedroom and is gross.
No, I should totally do the laundry later because it's hot right now and doing laundry involves moving.
What I should be doing is treating myself to the pile of books I've saved for my fun summer reading.
Except that I've been sucked into a loop of looking at the same 3 websites over and over.
My hair is making me hot because it's long and sits on my neck.
I should get it cut but don't know what style I want.
I'll put off the haircut a little longer too.
Plus, I get compliments on my hair.
It's taken forever to grow out.
I'll just wear a ponytail.
That's better.
I'm hungry.
Lunch.

Happy Weekend!

Aaaahhhh! I finally feel relaxed after two weeks off. It's odd how long my body takes to re-adjust to sleeping in. I've been anxiously waking up at 6 something in the morning for the past couple of weeks and feeling vaguely restless during the day.

I decided to set some summer goals for myself to help me be a little more productive this summer and not so restless. I've already been planning for next school year, but I want to work toward some personal goals as well. 

One of my goals was getting and training a dog this summer, which I jumped on a little early :) My husband and I took her to the dog park this morning to tucker her out. It worked. 

Sleepy puppy

I hope everyone has a fun Fourth of July weekend. I plan to eat a lot and watch some fireworks. We just have to figure out where we're going to do these things!

Until next time :)

School's Out for Summer!

Well, I made it. I have to say that this was the most draining school year I've had so far. WASC meetings and preparations took a lot out of me.

All in all, I feel a sense of success about this year. Did I get to everything I had planned with my class? No. I'm not sure is there will ever be a year I get everything done that I had planned.

I am happy to be on a much needed break though. Hopefully I'll get the blog up and running again. I have so many ideas for it and so little time!

For now, it's time to relax, pet my puppy, and sip a mojito.

Via here.

Europe!

Greetings! 

With school winding down (9 more days!!!!!...not that I'm counting), I can't help but daydream about my summer plans.

Last summer, my husband and I had the most amazing honeymoon in Germany. This summer, we might be going back to Germany!!! Nothing is final yet, but I would love to have a "second honeymoon" almost exactly a year later. What a great way to celebrate one year of marriage!

Speaking of Europe, I've optimistically entered to win a trip to Paris through Oh Happy Day (fingers crossed!). Probably won't win, but it doesn't hurt to try, right? ;)

Have a wonderful week! A special shout out goes to all the teachers who are still chugging along. Hang in there!