Absurd Advice

Overall, the internet has been a great resource for our wedding planning - how else could we listen to literally hundreds of songs in one evening to select all of our dances? However, I"ve stumbled on some bad (and really unrealistic) advice. The most recent was about writing thank-you notes. I'm finding it challenging to write a personal note to someone I"ve never met, yet, we've been recieving some gifts, and I'd like the notes to get out before the wedding. Here's the advice: thank you notes must be sent. Take an hour or two one evening or weekend afternoon to complete this task as a couple. You’ll be happy you did.

I don't doubt thank-you notes must be sent. But 'an hour or two'??? Perhaps if only your bridal party shows up. I love writing thank you notes, and love that it will take us an hour or two per day for at least a week.

What a day!!

Today was just one of those incredible days. I really loved today! Perhaps it was because....
- Derek and I went to a great church service, and had good conversations beforehand
- I had my first bridal shower - and got to connect with lots of family and friends of the family, and introduce them to Derek and his mother!
- our family found cheap flights to Costa Rica to visit little sis Lisa (who is there from August through early November!). A bunch of us are flying out mid-October for a long weekend! YEA!!! I can't wait! The only disappointment is that Derek won't be able to go (not enough vacation time this year...)
- we close on our house WEDNESDAY!!!

Engagement Pictures!!

What a fun day Saturday!

Check them out.... http://gallery.jvlphotography.com/gallery/3150281

On Wisconsin

A few weeks ago I was in Madison Wisconsin for some staff training. It was a great time, and I have to say that every time I travel to Madison, I enjoy it more and more. I rivals Ann Arbor, I must admit. Some of the highlights from the city:

- Farmer's Market - right outside of the hotel (and right by the capitol building) is the Farmers Market. Where else can you eat squeaky cheese curds that are a few hours old?

- Land's End Outlet - down the street is a Land's End Outlet - where things that are returned/exchanged are sold pretty cheap. You can get a bag with someone else's initials for a discount (or perhaps find your own if you are lucky). Derek and I both have new pants from here.

- Yummy food - you can also get this in Ann Arbor, but it's fun to have an allowance and eat out for lunch every day. One day it was Indian, the next African....you get the idea.

- Fireworks - there was an amazing fireworks display (set to music) over the lake. Beautiful, and I had never heard fireworks set to the Dixie Chicks before :).

All in all, Madison = good time.

What a couple of weeks!

What a couple of weeks it has been! I've been amazed at all that God has provided for Derek and I. Most notably is our house! We close in just 30 days on an incredible house - I love it more each time I'm there. It will be a great space for us to live, have people over, and begin our life together.

Things are also coming (slowly but surely) with the wedding and life planning. I'm amazed at the generousity we're experiencing from so many - from people hosting showers to giving us furniture. I've been struggling a bit to know how to respond to so much goodness. Truly, we don't deserve this, and it's not because of anything that we have done, yet we believe that these things are also from the Lord. God is good when things are going well and we're blessed relationally and materially. God is also good when life seems to be falling apart. I hope I can identify with that in difficult times, and not forget it during good times like this.

I'll post pictures of the house soon, but they are also on my Facebook account :).

life is expensive

I've come to fully realize that life is extremely expensive. Along with the joys of committing to life together with an amazing person comes the full realization of all of the major purchases and decisions for the next year. Things like mortgage rates, reception halls and leases all of a sudden need to work together in a real budget for two real people.

I'm thankful for fellow sojourners in this like Lisa who desire to have similar lifestyle choices of living within one's means. Derek and I made an agreement four days after getting engaged that we could drastically eliminate our eating-out habits. So far, I think we're doing well. One of my favorite evenings with him was a $.53 coffee outing and hours of good conversation. I'm also thankful for the onset of sunny and warm weather, where I'm perfectly content to just walk in the park.

Much to my dismay, Beaner's raised their refill price from $1 to $1.25! Thankfully, they offer a 10% discount for students, and my MTS student card works. So for me, it's $1.12. Sill, a .12 increase over a year amounts to $17.28 a year if I get coffee three times a week!

Currently Reading: A Simply Beautiful Wedding - planning a celebration that is attractively economical, relationally healthy, spiritually enriching, less stressful & more enjoyable

Engaged!!

The secret's out - I'm engaged! Last Saturday (my birthday) Derek took me to an amazing dinner at the Gandy Dancer. We got dressed up and he had made reservations. Once we got there the waitstaff took us to this little, cozy alcove where there were a dozen red roses. I was shocked! Derek had already given me my birthday present, so I wasn't expecting anything else.

During dinner I asked him, 'Do you have anything else planned?'. I suggested we walk around downtown, or go gaze at the stars. But I could tell he had another surprise, and I had no idea what it was. I also said, 'This has been the best birthday ever. Do you realize what you've done - there's no way that you'll be able to come even close to matching this next year!'

After dinner we decided to get dessert. Derek was pushing me to choose cheesecake (normally my favorite) or Key Lime Pie, but finally we decided on chocolate cake. When the waiter brought it out, there was a ring on top! I was stunned. Derek asked me to marry him and I said YES!

Then we called family and headed to my parent's house. It was a fun celebration. Whew - what a week. It's been great to talk to all of my good friends and share such good news with them. I've been overwhelmed by God's goodness. Derek is such an amazing man - someone who loves God, loves me, and really wants to spend the rest of his life with me.

Derek and I are excited. The question everyone asks is 'When's the wedding?' We don't know [yet], but have decided that it won't be this summer, or in September. So the earliest will be mid-October. And I don't expect him to top this birthday next year!

ah, a pattern

I've noticed a pattern - I tend to update my blog right before a training conference (the second weekend of MAC is this coming weekend). Why? Probably because there is stuff that I'm supposed to be working on, but am actively procrastinating. It's hard to work on a talk when I haven't checked Facebook. I also received the staffing lists for Chapter FOCUS week tonight and I can update my blog.

So the entry that I've been meaning to write is on 'stupid things that I've done'. Most recently it was vacuuming the power cord to my computer. It got sucked up so quickly, and while I was trying to turn off the vacuum there was smoke coming out of the machine (the vacuum). Now there are bare wires on the cord, but I've covered them over with electrical tape - yea to Meijer for a $1 fix. We'll see how long that lasts.....

My other favorite mistakes of the past year include buying airline tickets for the wrong flight (quickly got that reversed, thankfully) and unintentionally giving Derek the wrong phone number. That led to a slightly awkward first phone conversation. There must be others. You guys know me, feel free to share them!!