what i'm loving wednesday .2

i'm loving that the people i nanny and babysit for often watch the same shows that i do...yay for cleaning out my dvr without even being at my house!
i'm loving snuggles with sweet children, and the fact that so many people trust me with their most prized possessions.  so.blessed.
i'm loving the WEATHER these days. (ok, except for all the crazy tornado things.)
i'm loving a couple of new (to-me) wedding websites that friends have recommended to me: greenweddingshoes.com and offbeatbride.com
i'm loving chances to get active by pushing a stoller, jumping around with a kinect, doing wiifit, or just hiking up a small mountain.
i'm loving cozy blankets and couches.
i'm loving naps in the hammock on a sunny spring afternoon.  just because i've only done it once so far doesn't mean i won't be doing it a whole lot more!
i'm loving that my fiancé made plans for us to go dancing this friday.  not necessarily his favorite thing to do, but he wants to dance with me and that makes me smile.  a lot. (of course, i'm loving him a lot too!)

hey, it's ok (tuesday) .10

hey, it's ok

...to stay in your pj's past noon on your day off

...to play your babysitting client's xbox kinect for nearly 2 hours

...to have possibly injured your foot while playing xbox kinect and jumping

...to still kind of be in love with trader joe

...to look forward to couponing trips. unfortunately, not to trader joe's.

...to have enjoyed the marriage prep session on finances much more than you thought you would.

...to wonder how on earth you're going to pay for a wedding

...to remember that God has provided every need i've had for the past year...why would i expect anything less for a wedding?

...to ask you to weigh in on my decision. which toms should i get?

(this isn't happening tomorrow, but i've decided to take a few bucks from the next few babysitting jobs and set it aside for them)

red canvas

picnic

red twill

what i'm loving wednesday .1

i'm finally jumping on the bandwagon of this one. i've loved reading everyone else's for so long!

 

so, here's what i'm loving today!

i'm loving that it's supposed to get upwards of 80゜ today.  hellooooo walk & tan!

i'm loving that so many of my favorite shows are on on demand.  more dvr space for me.

i'm loving kid pajamas.  you know, the zip-up footie pj's.  so.stinkin.cute.

i'm loving baileys coffee creamer. 

i'm loving my cute little car.

i'm loving the new cell group members who we got to meet last night!  spiritual community is just growing by leaps and bounds :-) (and it doesn't hurt that they all have blogs...)

i'm loving my weekly lunch making dates with natasha.  today on the menu: pasta caprese

i'm loving my amazing fiance.  which goes without saying, but i still wanted to say it :D

hey, it's ok (tuesday) .8

hey, it's ok!

...to love law & order: uk because of the accents and wigs

...to plan out menus every week

...to often scrap said menus on day 2ish because you totally underestimated your level of busyness

...to heart fruit roll-ups at the age of 30

...to still get a little giddy when looking at my ring finger

...to hide from status updates on certain nights, until you've watched the show that everyone else is talking about (helloooo grey's last week that i still haven't watched!)

...to be a few days into tornado season and beyond ready for it to be over. the sirens make it hard to take a decent nap!

(visit amber for the original)

it's a great day to register for stuffs!

we're heading out at 7:30 am.  on a saturday.
doing breakfast with A's parents and aunt at pfunky griddle
and then heading to williams-sonoma
after that, target
and bed bath and beyond.

i have a feeling it's gonna be a looooooong day
but i'm looking forward to it :D

hope you all have a wonderful saturday!

thursday's ten: registry, registry

sorry for the late start today...it's been a crazy morning already :)

today's 10 is back in the wedding swing of things: things we're registering for
(i almost made a top 10 list of things finn plays with that are not toys.  like the water bottle he's been obsessed with for the last 10 minutes.  cracking.me.up.)

<center><a href="http://lorablogs.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/msmsctchr/tt-1.jpg" /></a></center>

(all these can be found on the websites of one of the three places we're registering...williams-sonoma, bed bath & beyond and target.  oh if ONLY ikea were near here...)

1. stand mixer.  of course.

2. food processor (haven't selected the brand/model yet)

3. something to make the office space a little more fun/funky.  like this lamp.

or this one

or this one (floor lamp)

4. a slipcover for his sleeper sofa...for the guest room/office

5. an air mattress (for camping AND guests.  wait, did i just write "camping"?  yikes.)

6. fluffy towels!

7. good knives (any advice on brand there??)

8. fun casserole dishes

9. a toaster oven

10. a vacuum cleaner.  because the two we have are kinda crap. (and by "crap" i mean mine sucks some stuff up and his sucks up less)

and of course, fabulous sheets. :-)

what was on your registry that you're glad you added?
what was on your registry that you didn't need after all?

hey, it's ok (tuesday) .7

visit amber for the original!

hey, it's ok

... to think the folgers commercials are a bit over the top. the latest one shows people drinking out of a ramekin and creamer cup because they can't spend the 2 extra minutes to locate the box marked "mugs" in the kitchen they just moved into.  i mean, really?

... to expect your phone and computer to communicate simply because they are both made by apple.  why is syncing such a nightmare?

... to think the spicy chicken deluxe combo from chick-fil-a is preferable to any other chicken meal EVER.
(but in all fairness, i don't love chicken.  i'm a beef girl)

... to have discovered and fallen in love with pinkberry.  this is not necessarily a good thing!

... to be excited about starting our registries this weekend.

...to not have a CLUE what we're going to register for.  it's overwhelming!

thursday's ten: about turning 30

so by the time next thursday rolls around, i'll be 30. my birthday is monday. that SO does not seem possible! entering a new decade seems like it should be a bit more monumental to me, but i guess because i've done so much living since turning 20 that it really isn't fazing me.

here ARE 10 things about turning 30 in a few days though...things that i've learned in the last 10 years.




1. i love an excuse for celebration. especially when that celebration includes a pub night ;)
2. i'm much more comfortable in my own skin than i was 10, 5, even 1 year ago.
3. that biological clock just keeps ticking along!
4. i'll make my own birthday dessert to share just because irish cream brownies are that good.
(i'll post the recipe here tomorrow. ish.)
5. there are some things and some situations that just aren't worth my time. and i've learned to recognize them a bit more readily.
6. some days don't contain enough caffeine. this gets truer as i get older!
7. there really ARE more aches and pains in my body than there were when i was 20. i'm not imagining that. but i don't have to dwell on them, and i don't have to let them define me or how i feel.
8. taking a few moments to sit on a porch swing or lay in a hammock is time well spent. so is the occasional afternoon nap.
(my 20 year old self is SCREAMING that this statement can't possibly be right...lol)
9. kids really do want structure and boundaries. they crave them. and there is a healthy way to create and enforce these things.
10. you really CAN get used to wearing a piece of jewelry 24/7 :D

how about you? what have you learned or done differently in the last 10 years?

hey, it's ok (tuesday) .6

hey! it's ok...

... that on your first day of "break" you did nothing of too much substance.  there's 4 other days to be productive, and enjoying some free time is not a bad thing!
... to think that one of the children on "sid the science kid" is the most annoying child EVER and that you're glad you don't know her in real life
... to be excited about the date we have set to set up our registries. 
... to have set a craaaaazy goal of minutes to work out this month.  i'll tell you at the end if i make it :D
... to have no idea what to give up for Lent this year
... to be a bit overwhelmed by wedding/honeymoon plans.  but it's a good overwhelmed.

it's a great day to show you my ring :)

first this weekend's wordle:

hey -- i finally have ring pictures!

my friend natasha came over last night and she has this fantastic little camera that she got for christmas...so i asked her to attempt what had been impossible for me :)

here's a few shots for you -- he did good, yes? :0)

monday's memory: the one where it's pretty fresh on my mind...

after much thought, consideration and prayer
anthony and i have come to a decision
to stop dating.



last night, we went to dinner at this fantastic gourmet burger place around the corner from his place.
(seriously gourmet, i had a lamb burger!)

while we were there, anthony mentioned that he had left his journal at church that morning.  since it was on the way back to my house, we decided to stop and get it on the way back.

then his aunt texted me to say that she was dropping our girl scout cookies off at his parents house, would we be around there tonight?  i told her we could stop by in a few minutes.  but anthony wanted to go to the church first.

so we drove up to the church and saw that there was a funeral being held upstairs.  anthony made the wise decision to park to the side a bit and walk in the side door, crossing his fingers that it was open (it was).  he walked inside.

and i waited.
and waited.
and waited.
i was occupied enough with twitter and facebook and words with friends for awhile
but then i noticed that 30 minutes had gone by

i began to get annoyed.
thinking there must be something REALLY personal in this journal
or that he had run into someone he knew and got caught up talking
but SURELY he would have texted me to let me know that had happened...
perhaps he was sick or something...
but SURELY he would have called/texted to say that

and then i got a notification from words with friends
saying that he'd made a move in our game
so i KNEW he was ok

and so i played back and in the "chat" wrote something on the order of
"you've been in there a LONG time.  what are you doing??"

no response.

s.t.e.w.i.n.g

his sister texts me, saying her mom was wondering if we were going to be there soon
i reply that i seem to have lost her brother.
i text him
i wait
i call him
(45 minutes have gone by)
i may have mentioned in my voicemail that his phone had rang several times, so i was pretty sure he was getting reception...
his sister calls me
she suggests i go look for him
i say maybe

i finally get fed up enough to emerge from the car.
and go downstairs to the teen center
now, remember that there is a FUNERAL going on upstairs.
so when i crack open the doors and see candles, i panic and close them thinking "it's a vigil area!"

so i go to the only other place i can think of
i begin knocking on the men's bathroom door
and am thisclose to opening it
when anthony emerges from the teen center
saying "you are one stubborn woman."

and of course, i'm going "what are you DOING in there?!"
he tells me to come in
and i do, still a bit upset

and then i notice his sister's flip video camera on the counter
and hear him begin making a speech
about how this is the place we met, this is the place it all began
and all of a sudden i'm not quite so angry anymore
and then he drops to one knee
and the next thing i know
i'm an engaged woman
(eeeek!)

the next few hours were spent calling and texting and hugging
(his aunt that texted me asking if we were coming to his parents?  had NO.CLUE.  she had been invited over, and just *happened* to text to see if we were coming.  her reaction may have been my favorite -- jaw dropping in slow motion upon seeing my finger.)
(his sister and roommate were in the building...hiding in one of the adjacent rooms.  they burst out after the ring was on my finger.)
(his other sister, when i walked into the house screamed "WE GET ANOTHER SISTER!!")

so yes, we've decided to stop dating
and take the next step
:)
we're hoping for a particular church and are kind of going to set a date based on availability...
and there are TONS of other details to be dealt with
although i hold to my statement i have always made
that really, i just want a pretty dress
and people we love surrounding us

(this, by the way, means our guest list is already looking huge.  gulp.)

i promise to show you better pictures of the ring
when i, um, figure out how to TAKE a better picture of the ring!
he picked it out by himself
and drove up to indiana last thursday to ask my dad's permission
(which is a total southern thing...but so incredibly sweet and charming)

i'm thrilled
(obviously)
and so excited that it's official
that i get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend :D

you know the *really* funny thing?
after all that drama...

...he still left his journal at church...