Life's Going Ons

I almost can't remember the last time I wrote anything because it has been so long. Quite frankly, there is nothing at all terribly exciting going on. I work. A lot. I exercise. I eat dinner. I spend time with Seth. I sleep.

Two weekends ago, Seth's parents came for a visit. Seth's mom made us curtains for the basement which is wonderful! Now I don't have to fear another incident where I am folding laundry and look up to see a huge gray cat with bulging green eyes staring at me through the window. Instead, I'll just leave it to my imagination and try not to think what could be on the other side of them. Anyway, they look great, and it's nice to finally have them. Thanks, mom Ran! Seth and his dad did some little odds and ends, looked at coins, and chatted. We went for some yummy late night ice cream, too! Bentley licked the iron so he even got his very own doggy ice cream sundae. (I think he licked the iron on purpose for this reason) ;)

This past weekend, we had my sister's baby shower. She has about 2 months to go! The theme was peas in a pod, or "sweet peas." We did everything in orange and tones of green. It turned out really well. Here are a few pictures of it!




Above, she is opening a gift certificate for a mani/pedi combo (NICE!) and a huge stack of books. We asked each guest to bring their favorite children's book to start the babies' library (for those who don't know, she is having twins--a boy and a girl).

Anyway, that's about all that is new right now! Looking forward to the nice weather this weekend. I might go shopping with my sister one day, and Seth and I plan on going to the state park to take Bentley hiking.

The Proposal Story...

Today is the day 3 years ago that Seth proposed to me. I'm sure many of you have heard the story but for sappiness sake, I'll retell.

I guess let's first start with the fact that he was going to propose to me on March 10, but I since I had no idea, I opted for something much, much less fun like getting my wisdom teeth out.

Anyway, leading up to the 17th, Seth told me he was going to take me out on a date night on Friday. I half figured he just wanted to do something sweet post-wisdom teeth misery. He told me it was going to be a surprise. I asked him what I should wear and his only direction was to "look cute." Ah yes, a man of many words ;) He told me to be at his apartment by 4:30 p.m.

(Before I left, I distinctly remember my mom saying to me "you're going to wear that?" Because she knew what was about to happen, she thought I should be much...um, cuter than that I guess. In hindsight, I almost can't believe she didn't throw my digital camera in the bottom of my purse.)

When I showed up to his apartment, I realized I had beat him getting home from school. No biggie. I started watching TV, and heard him come in. Right away he said, "I'm going to change. I'll be right out." Except that he went into the kitchen. Oddity #1.

Hearing him in the kitchen making noise, I walked towards the kitchen. Where he promptly flung himself whatever it was he was doing on the counter. Oddity #2. I just assumed that it was something he would give me later. Duh.

He changed and then told me he "needs to get his school books out of his car and that he'd be right back." Hm, okay, why didn't you just bring them in 5 minutes ago when you walked in? Oddity #3.

As we get in the car, he tells me that we are going to go for a walk on City Island (where we had our first date), and then he is taking me out for a nice dinner. I thought that was very sweet and thoughtful and was very excited. Until I looked down and realized I was wearing stilettos. And it was March and I didn't have the proper glove/hat/scarf gear. Oh well.

We walked around, holding hands, and taking in the gorgeous day. He asked a few times what time the sun sets in March. Oddity #4. I felt like it was something I should know but definitely didn't. "Oh, I don't know....6:30??" We sat on the swing and talked. We got up and looked down into the river and went to sit back down. Except I sat on the wrong side of him and it made him uncomfortable. Oddity #5.

Then, he stands up, clearly because my seat switching made it impossible to hold out any longer with the ring in his pocket on the side where I was. He gets down on one knee--where I promotly thought he was messing with my head--and proposes!!! I say something like "shut up" and "are you kidding me?!" before I say "YES!!!!!!!"

We start walking to the car (or so I thought), I am admiring the bling, and making calls and he leads me to a waiting horse and carriage. Again, I was floored! I was so, so excited because I've always wanted to do this!

He says he'll be right back, and he runs to his jeep. And slowly, but ever so surely, all those oddities make sense. What he was hiding in the kitchen was the thermos of hot chocolate he packed for the carriage ride, when he was going to get the "books," he was taking the thermos out to the car and putting the flowers in the trunk. When he asked what time the sun would set, he wanted the carriage ride to be perfectly timed so we would see it.

He comes back with a HUGE bouquet of red roses, the hot chocolate, and a camera. Oh, he is a good man. We cuddled up with a huge warm blanket and were taken all over the city in a gorgeous carriage. I made a few calls while beaming from ear to ear. One particular call stands out. I called my sister. Apparently, I've cried wolf one too many times telling her I was engaged because she totally didn't believe me. Her exact words were: "well, if you aren't lying, congratulations." hahaha

Anyway, it was a great night and one I'll always remember. I am in disbelief that at no point in the entire evening, even with all the weird things that happened, did I have any clue what was about to happen.

My Not-So-Relaxing Drive Home from Work

Yesterday on my way home from work, I got pulled over. Well, sort of. Here is what happened.

There is a portion of the trip that I take that is not only a construction zone but also 40 mph. Since I'm absolutely paranoid of getting pulled over in a construction zone (double fine here in PA), I distinctly looked at the speedometer. I was going 42. Also here in PA, we have this new technology (new for here anyway), where they place upright poles on either side of the road.
When you go through them, it's too late. The info about your car and your speed have already been passed to the officer up ahead. Typically, they pull you over in groups (2-3 cars).

As I went through them, I looked at how fast I was going. 42. Perfect.

Or not.

Old coppy boy pulled out and put his lights on instantly. Naturally, if you know me at all, I was like WHAT?!?!? You have got to be kidding me!!!! He was still a few car lengths back, but I decided I wouldn't pull over until he was right up at me. In the meantime, an SUV pulled into the right lane (where I was) between the cop and I. And he just kept drivin' on, not pulling over.

Then, the driver of that car motions for me to get over, so naturally I assume that the cop behind him is motioning something. So I do. And then the SUV finally does too and the cop pulls in behind both of us.

(Allow me to use this time here to dispell any rumors about how I might act when being pulled over. I was VERY calm; absolutely no tears, no freaking out. In fact, I even sort of chuckled a bit in disbelief because I figured this cop must be quite the guy if he is pulling me over for 42 in a 40.)

So I sat there for, oh, an eternity, while he did all the paperwork and whatnot with the SUV. I saw in my rearview mirror the cop point up to me and ask the driver something, to which the driver shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

Finally, the cop started walking up to me and I rolled down my window. "Is everything okay ma'am?" he said. [confused] "Yeah, the guy behind me motioned for me to get over so I did."

To which he chuckled and replied, "Oh no, ma'am, he is the one that was speeding and was getting pulled over. You're fine and free to go."

Talk about a sigh of relief.

So, here's to the man in the blue SUV who tried to take me down with him!

100 Reasons for the 100th Post

Seth and I have been reading a book called Love and Respect. It’s a really great book about how marriages can save a lot of problems before they even start by understanding men and women’s natural needs (a woman’s to be loved, and a man’s to be respected).

I’ve realized I don’t tell Seth enough how much I respect him, so in honor of my 100th blog post (that went quickly!), here are just 100 of the thousands of things I respect (and love!) about my husband:

He works full-time to support our family.
He then works part-time to make sure we have more than enough.
He generally doesn’t complain about working.
He protects me.
He is a Christian.
He has ambition.
He collects coins and then sells them to provide even more.
He tries to keep us financially in check.
He rubs my back at night.
He always gives me kisses.
He always tells me he loves me.
He empties the garbage every week.
He helps with the laundry.
He empties the dishwasher.
He makes friends with anyone.
He is fairly undramatic.
He reads with me.
He lets me get bubble baths when I’ve had a bad day.
…and he keeps Bentley away so I can actually relax.
He takes turns getting up first on the weekends when Bentley wants nothing to do with sleeping. He gives me enough inner peace when he drives to go to sleep in the passenger seat.
He apologizes when he needs to.
He mows the grass.
He cleans out the gutters.
He helps me hang up Christmas lights outside because he knows I love it even though he’d rather have bamboo shoots shoved under his nails than do it.
He talks to me on the phone every single morning on the way to work.
He tells me I look pretty even when I don’t.
He pays for dinner with his only cash so that we don’t use the credit card.
He gives me some cash so I have some dollars in my wallet (I never do!)
He plays with my hair while I watch TV.
He lets me nap when I’m grumpy and/or exhausted.
He runs errands for me.
He is a good cook.
…and has dinner already underway or made by the time I get home from work.
He understands when I make mistakes.
And then accepts my apologies.
He tries to always understand what it is I do at work.
He reads my blog and laughs.
He makes me happy.
And always makes me laugh.
Especially when he makes the walrus sound to mimic the sound our refrigerator made one night. (and in those cases, it makes me cry I laugh so hard)
He plays darts with me.
He mini-golfs with me.
He bowls with me.
And in all of those above, he tries to not be a sore loser when I win! Haha
He holds my hand.
…in the car, at the movies, in church, anywhere…
He grows a soul patch (that little patch of hair under his bottom lip) sometimes because I like it.
He likes kids.
He wants to have kids.
He is a teacher.
He understands way more about mortgages than me.
…and told me to relax and let him handle it when we refinanced for a lower rate.
He loves to entertain too.
He helps me plant flowers.
He wants to save money.
He is handy.
He helped do a lot of the work on the basement to be sure it wouldn’t cost us a ton of money.
He helps others.
He sometimes buys me a PA scratch off lottery ticket to cheer me up (we have this on-going joke about the funny groundhog that is on everything)
He responds to my e-mails.
He helps vacuum the house.
He drives when we’re together (most of the time).
He takes me out to eat because he knows I love it.
He remembers my birthday.
…and our anniversary.
He gives thoughtful gifts.
He put a ton of thought into proposing to me.
He helped plan our wedding.
He picked an awesome honeymoon location.
At the beach, he lays out with me even though there is no greater torture than that to him.
He finally (for the most part) stopped calling my country house decorations “crap” and “junk.”
He keeps his snakes contained to one room of the house so I do not ever have to see or hear of them.
He helps me match up the 460 socks that seem to have no matches.
He tells me I’m a good cook.
He is gorgeous. Seriously, really hot.
He has allowed the night light in the bedroom because he knows I’m scared of the dark.
He is affectionate.
He sometimes watches Friends with me even though he hates that show.
He watches a LOT of romantic comedies with me because that is my genre of choice.
When we fly somewhere, he entertains me by letting me mix the contents of our suitcase so that if one gets lost, one of us won’t be completely without clothing.
He…well….n/m ;)
He puts gas in my car when it gets low.
He lets me have the garage so my car is warmer in the morning.
He loves Bentley to death.
He helps me put clean sheets on the bed.
He MAKES the bed.
He takes 1/3 of the closet while I have 2/3.
He appreciates and values family.
He tells me I’m creative and good at my job.
He surprised me by buying me an eye pencil sharpener I mentioned I needed one.
He encourages me.
He believes that our vows were not just words.
He gives me hugs.
…and wipes away my tears when I’m sad.
He has a huge heart.
He is my soulmate.
He is everything (and more!) I ever imagined him to be when I met him in 2005. He has beyond exceeded those expectations.

I love you, babe! Way more than I did yesterday, and far less than I will tomorrow.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine… ;)

Oh, the irony.

What are the chances that the very same week you begin your office weight loss challenge, the office supple of these would be delivered?

I feel like I should be reciting the Serenity prayer right now. "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change..."

I Think I Have a Fan

Every day when I leave work, I always turn on one of the local radio stations right away. They have the best traffic updates, and it has saved me so much time by avoiding highways that are backed up. Lately, I've been taking the turnpike to avoid the traffic altogether.

Seth and I don't have an EZ-Pass, so I always pay cash. Pretty much every day--no matter which "cash" lane I pick--the attendant is this tiny 70 or so year old Asian man. He is always very nice and smiles from ear to ear, but he is very slow in his demeanor. Most grab your money and get you on your way. But this gentleman slooowly puts his hand out the window, says "hello," asks me how my day is going, and gives me the old man flirtiest smile. (You know, that just-a-tiny-bit-creeps-you-out smile...)

I'm always polite, but try to keep him on schedule as I'm sure the people behind me think I've probably just given the attendant a $100 bill to break every day he spends so much time on my transaction. In fact, some days, I feel bad that I'm so rushed and get a little weirded out by him.

Today, I left work a little later than normal and I was trying to just get home. So when I pulled in my usual lane and saw that it was a different person, I sort of let out a sigh of relief that a "thank you" would be good and I'd be on my way.

As I paid the attendant and got ready to pull away, I glanced over to say thanks and the little Asian man every so slowly peaked out from behind him, gave me a little "ah ha!" smile, and did the little single index finger wave.

He was so watching for me.

Let's EZ-pass, shall we?

Sunday Silliness

"Now I'm all ready to go on the annual camping trip and shoot guns with the boys!"