The Proposal

I know many of you have heard already, but I just love saying it . . . I’m engaged!!!!

This has been a long time coming, but it has finally happened! And here is the story of the proposal:

Our Six Month Anniversary was on October 13. Kevin had to travel to Las Vegas that day for a trade show, so I decided to take off work and tag along. One of his co-workers also had to go, so he brought his wife and we all drove down together that afternoon. I worked half a day on Tuesday and Kevin stopped by about an hour before I left to being me two dozen red roses. I thought he was just being sweet because it was our anniversary.

The drive down to Las Vegas was fun, and seemed a little long. I’m guessing it felt a little longer for Kevin. He seemed a little quiet on the way down, but I thought he was just tired so I didn’t really think anything of it. He just kept looking over at me and smiling, but I figured he was just happy to be going to Vegas. Since it was our anniversary, we had planned to go on a gondola ride at the Venetian and then eat at Canaletto, a restaurant in the Venetian. We arrived in the city a little late, but hurried and checked into our hotel and changed into nicer apparel. All week Kevin kept asking me what he should wear when we went out, which I thought was a little funny, but not too out of the ordinary. ( I had told him several times that he needed to make sure we were dressed really nice when he proposed, so this was his way of making good on that promise.)

The other couple that was with us followed us over to the Venetian and over to the gondolas, which I thought was a little strange since they weren’t going to ride with us, but once again, I just brushed it off.

The ride on the gondola was incredibly romantic. Of course, I think I ruined the mood a little bit when I turned to him and said, “You know, we could have just shared a gondola with another couple and saved like $30.” He told me that it wouldn’t be special and then his voice got a little shaky. He told me he loved me and then asked me how much I loved him. I told him I loved him a lot, and started to think, “What a weird question.” Then I looked down and saw the ring I had picked out in his hand. I was speechless!! I could not believe he had the ring! He had told me just a couple days before that he would not be able to buy the ring for another couple weeks and then it would take 2 weeks for it to get sized.

I started crying once I got over the shock of seeing the ring and then he asked me if I would marry him. I said yes, of course!!

The gondola guide could tell what was going on, and so he announced “She said yes!” And everyone that was walking along the water started clapping and cheering. Then, Kevin told me that Jay and his wife and been taking pictures of us the whole time. They had been hiding behind signs and other objects so that I wouldn’t see them. I will post the pictures as soon as I get them.

The guide was nice enough to take some pictures for us. They turned out way better than the ones that they take when you get on the boat and try to get you to buy.









After the boat ride we went to dinner at the restaurant right by the canal called Canaletto. The food was really good.

I don’t think I could have asked for a more romantic and perfect proposal. I absolutely love my ring and I love my finance!!!

Dropping the Weight

Dating certainly has its perks, but there are also a few downfalls. Like feeling the need to eat out all the time. Though this is a nice idea in theory, my waistline does not agree. I have someone to keep me warm this winter, so I don’t need to be packing on the extra liner of fat this year. Therefore Kevin and I are starting a new program this week. No it’s not some weird diet with hormone shots, we have an exercise plan and we are going to start keeping a food diary. Self.com has a really good program that helps you lose 8 pounds in a month. Basically, you workout for 350 minutes a week, which equals just less than 60 minute sessions 6 times a week. You also calculate what your calorie intake should be and stick to it.

I really think this will work if we can maintain it. I like the idea of the food diary because it really does stop me from snacking on unhealthy options. If I think about grabbing a cookie I think, “I really don’t want to log that,” and I don’t pick it up. It is going to take some effort to make my workouts more creative so I don’t get bored, but I look forward to it. Having a partner will be good too.

If any of you are looking for a way to lose a couple pounds, you should totally jump on the bandwagon! It’s good to start now before the holidays are upon us!

Power Outage and Conference

There was quite the storm last night, which left our office with no power this morning. Of course, that left me with nothing to do, so I left and ran some errands. The power wasn’t supposed to be turned on until 10:30 am, but of course Rocky Mountain Power was working hard and was able to restore power just after 9:30 am. Much to my disappointment of course. I had just gotten to Kevin’s office to visit him when I got the call. I did get some things done though and I got paid for it, so that’s nice.

Conference weekend was bliss. Friday night Kevin and I stopped by a wedding reception and then headed up to Salt Lake for his parent’s mission reunion. It was so good to see his parents. They are so cute. His mom made a ton of delicious soup, and I ate more than my share I’m sure. After a moving presentation and cleaning up, we all went back to Kevin’s and chatted for a while. His parents are just so sweet and welcoming.

Saturday morning I stopped off at Shirley’s on the way to Kevin’s to pick up some cinnamon rolls and wheat rolls. SO GOOD! Kevin’s parents stayed for the first part of the morning session and then we spent the rest of the day being lazy, sleeping in between and after the sessions. Kevin went to priesthood and I took advantage of my free time and caught up on some of my shows. When he returned we had to continue his tradition of going out for pizza after Priesthood session. I chose California Pizza Kitchen, one of our favorites. I even ordered a slice of Red Velvet cake. AMAZING!

Sunday was another lazy day. Lots of Conference and lots of napping. We ended up watching Marley and Me and we both bawled like babies. Kevin blames it on being so tired. Yeah, right! ;-)

It rained a lot, and I kind of liked it. Things are cooling off and it really feels like fall!

Computers and Reading

I do not like waiting. For anything. I know many people can attest to that. My dilemma this week: I decided to order my laptop direct from Dell because my Dad gets a killer discount. The only problem is that they have to build it and then ship it 3-day. Meaning I won’t get my laptop for at least another week. It’s amazing how thrown off I am without a computer at home. My morning and nightly routines are all awry now. Going almost 24 hours without checking Facebook isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I just hate not being able to watch Hulu and Google random questions that I have.

I know, I know, you should all feel so sorry for me. I am so much worse off than those starving kids in China or where ever children are starving these days.

In the meantime, I do have several books checked out from the library that I am trying to read. Right now I am working on “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold, “Freakonomics” by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, and “The Choice” by Nicholas Sparks.

Interestingly enough, I was just googling to see who the author of “The Lovely Bones” was and discovered that they are filming a movie based on the book and it is set to release in January. And Stanley Tucci is playing the murderer, which I am way excited about. I love him and I can totally picture him playing the part.

So far the books are good. I just need to find more time to read them.

Always Remember to Back Up!

My laptop died this weekend. The hard drive is long gone. Luckily, Kevin backed up all of my stuff a little while back, so I didn’t really lose anything expect a few songs and pictures. The pictures are on Facebook and I’m sure I can manage to rip the few songs of my iPod, so really no harm done. Except that I no longer have a computer. But since I can’t function without one at home, I am already shopping for a new one. I tried to order one online this weekend, but the store decided to cancel my order for some reason. I tried it again this morning, and no rejection yet, so I hope it goes through. I’m even paying for 1 day shipping because I am so anxious to get it. Mostly because I have some TV shows to get caught up on.

This is the one I am looking at getting. I don’t want to spend very much right now, since I don’t have any money. This one is a pretty blue and comes with Microsoft Office pre-installed.

Puzzling

I know I need to get some pictures up here, so here are a few. Kevin and I thought it would be fun to start a puzzle. Off to Wal-mart we went to pick one out. Of course, when I saw the NYC skyline, I knew that’s the one that I wanted. We started on it the next day and it took us a couple weeks to assemble the dang thing and it only had 750 pieces. Of course we only spent a couple hours each week on it, but it seemed to take forever. It looks so pretty now that it is finished.

Now I have never been a very avid puzzle person. Sure, I’ve put a few together over the years, but nothing with too many pieces. I don’t have the patience. Kevin on the other hand, loves puzzles and apparently used to work on them with his family all the time growing up. He takes his puzzle assembling very seriously. He sorted the pieces differently than I would have (and honestly I think his way slowed us down, but don’t tell him I said that) but it was interesting to watch him. Here are a few shots during the process. We started the puzzle a while before I got my new camera, so I just have pics from the last couple attempts.

Summer of 2009

I am so bad at updating. I’m sorry.

My camera broke a while ago, so I don’t have any pictures, but here is a recap of the last couple weeks.

Still working for the company I started with in July. Don’t really like it, but it is a source of income for now. I seriously count down the hours each day until it is time to go home.

My family spent a lot of time out here and it was a blast spending time with them.

Went to Lagoon for the first time since I was six years old. It actually was a lot of fun. Unfortunately it was 102 degrees so that part was pretty miserable, but Kevin and I still managed to have fun. Wicked was by far our favorite ride. I loved The Rocket too. I wish we weren’t so tired and hot so we could have ridden more rides, but it was good. I had heard from so many people that Lagoon is really lame, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sure it was no Kings Dominion or Busch Gardens, but I love amusement parks so I will take what I can get.

We went to an Orem Owls game a while back. I’m not much of a baseball fan, but it was fun and free! The mosquitoes were out though, so we didn’t stay long.

Saw Julie and Julia and really liked it. It was really funny and super cute. I would definitely recommend it. We also saw 500 Days of Summer. It was cute, but I didn’t love it. Though I think it was mostly due to the mood I was in.

Kevin and I got to babysit my nieces a couple Saturdays ago and it was a lot of fun. Kevin’s complex has a really nice pool, including a baby pool so we took the girls swimming. They had a blast going from the “big pool”, “little pool”, and the “hot pool”. The girls absolutely love Kevin and Kaylee wanted to be with him the entire time. Aunt April is old news now.

Labor Day weekend Kevin and I went up to Logan to spend some with his brother’s family. They have five adorable children, including 8 month old twins. They were so much fun. We went to Charlie’s for milkshakes, which has become a tradition. Kevin and I got to experience Church with twins. We took care of Seth and Sophie while their parents were in Primary. They were surprisingly good and Seth slept most of the time. I also experienced Aggie ice cream for the first time, and it was pretty good. I think I’m still partial to BYU Creamery ice cream though! On Monday we drove back down and went to Onion Days to see Kevin’s roommate BJ play with his band. It’s funny because 2 years ago on Labor Day Kevin took me to Onion Days to see BJ perform for our first date. What a journey it has been since then!

As for our Holiday plans this year, Kevin and I are planning to drive out to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving. We will stop in Vegas for a night and then go to Magic Mountain the day before Thanksgiving. We made a bet with each other at the beginning of July that if we both workout 4 times a week for 3 months, then we get to go to Magic Mountain. (We were going to go to Disneyland, but that place is expensive and we don’t have that much time.) My parents are way excited to have us stay with them and my Mom has basically planned something for every second we are there.

Christmas will be in Washington and I am so excited to see the Northwest for the first time. I know it will be absolutely gorgeous! I will get to meet more of Kevin’s family and I hope they approve of me!

Also, Kevin bought me a new digital camera and it is coming today!!! So I promise to take more pictures and post them!