Friday, June 27, 2014

the wedding stress begins!

As much as I am looking forward to marrying Doug, I was not excited to plan a wedding again! Stan has been using Bible verses in our counseling lately and one of them is 2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Stan has been using it to remind me that this is NEW. New man, new wedding, new marriage, new life together. It's been good. And I have a bit of a different perspective now on the whole wedding thing, I do want to plan a nice evening for our friends to celebrate our joy with us, but it is one day. It's not going to win any "epic wedding" award, and not going to be featured in a magazine, I just hope people have a good time, I get some good pics for an album, and Doug and I can officially start our lives together.
I am a pretty good planner and organizer, but it is frustrating waiting on people to get back to me after calls and emails. It ends up taking more time than it should. But we are getting close to a date, finally!
Let me just say again how much I love Doug. He makes life fun. We went to Lowe's last night, we are going to paint the bedroom we will be sharing soon. The cashier lady had some grout or something on her arm that another cashier put on her for fun and Doug makes a joke how I'm about to be a nurse and I can take care of her if she needs me to. Then we start talking and find out she's in nursing school and had a nice chat. And then the paint man he was joking with him and offering him pizza to come over and paint for us. He makes people feel good. I really like that. I would have just came and went, but he takes an interest in people. He's great. So anyway, I am excited too for our nest to be feathered up a little bit. Man oh man is paint expensive! I think we'll just do the one room, the rest of the house is a nice creamy beige and I really like it actually, it makes the house seem airy and roomy. But soon our future bedroom will be a beautiful light dreamy gray-blue, or 'shark loop' color.
And here were my souvineers from Florida I forgot to post:
2 new magnets for my collection, a pressed penny from the Kennedy Space Center, and Doug got this quarter back in some change for my America commemorative quarter collection, yay!

Monday, June 23, 2014

Florida

Just got back last night from a quick trip to FL to visit my sister. It was over way too soon!
My flight was 3 hours delayed getting down there, but this little old guy whipped out his accordion and made the waiting a bit more enjoyable. Finally landed close to 1am, and in bed at 3:30am! Wow, not used to those hours anymore!
Thursday we woke up and did this intense stair/running exercise. My sis, her husband and I looked for wedding dresses (fail), and then we went to pick up Doug after the business conference he had been attending was over. We went out to eat at Senor Frogs (overpriced) and walked around a bit.
The next day went off to a great start with breakfast at Chik-fil-A. Delicious.
And we headed down to the Kennedy Space Station.
I touched a moon rock
Doug ate astronaut icecream
They were going to have a rocket launch, which would have been awesome to see, but it was postponed because of weather. Too bad
The next day we went swimming with manatees
I was pretty terrified to get into the water. I just don't like swimming where my feet don't touch, and the water was cloudy, and I don't like going underwater. I kept making Doug blow more air into my lifevest thing. We were with a mama and baby manatee, and the guide pulled my hand over to touch them. Then after that it was pretty cool. But I mostly liked it when I was back on the boat and could just see them nearby and Doug got back in and I would tell him they were over to his left, etc. But it was a nice day. The rest of the afternoon was rainy so we didn't get to go our river tube thing my sister had planned. We went back to their apartment, my sister made a yummy dinner, and then we went out to The Villages and walked around, got icecream, sat and talked.
Sunday was our last day. Johnny took some engagement pictures of Doug and I in this area with beautiful spanish mossy trees.
Then we went to a beach near Tampa for a couple hours. So short time and my shoulders are feeling the burn today! Ow!
The water was warm and beautiful, it was so nice.
It was a great trip and the first time I've been out to see my sister since she'd started her traveling therapy job, so that was really nice to see her. And I get to see them again in 2 weeks, wahoo! That never happens!

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Treasure Hunt

Saturday morning Doug had planned a special date for us. He had told me earlier in the week that he was mailing me something, and not to open it- it was for Saturday. Friday's mail came, and nothing. Saturday he came over for breakfast and couldn't believe it hadn't come. I told him he should not have left our date in the hands of the USPS! So we had breakfast and he suggested I check the mail again. Our mail usually arrives after noon, and it was around 9:30, but I checked and it was there!
And inside the envelope was a treasure map!
We let love lead us and it led to a nature area. We got out of the car and walked down the trail and came to a kayak. And Doug rowed me across a lake to a tiny island.
We got to the island and Doug led me to an area where he had set up some tiki torches and a hammock
He said part of the date involved trust, and he asked me to sit on a blanket and he blindfolded me (I put one in my mouth and made jokes) I could hear all kinds of rustling noises around me and kept asking if he was surrounding me with fritos.
When he took the blindfold off, I was surrounded by, not fritos but, 6 dozen roses and he was kneeling over me. And he said, Anne I took you on a treasure hunt today, but you are the true treasure - will you marry me? And I said yes :)
Next he hands me a shovel and tells me to dig. And I dug up a package he had buried containing 34 pages of our facebook messages from when we started talking again last fall along with a couple love letters. We laid in the hammock and read together
And Doug used his tripod to try to get one of us together. Not so easy to set up the camera, and try to run and hop on a hammock in under 10 seconds!
I felt like the Bachelorette with all my roses
Doug will you accept this rose?
He did. He did.
We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then packed up and headed home to share our good news.
Doug first told his parents that I said "no" and when I called my parents I told them we had gotten married that day. Since he had already talked to them and knew the plan, I felt like they needed to be surprised by something!
Becks was surprised to hear the news
But he soon accepted it
On our first date Doug had given me keys to lockers in our town's skating center which held roses, and letters. And that day he again gave me two locker keys. We attempted to go to the skating center, but it was closed, and missed it again the next day too! I joked to Doug that the locker would become our personal time capsule and we'd return on our 25th anniversary, but the next day the place was open so I went and opened my lockers.
I can't even say how happy I am for how God has moved in my life and blessed me with such a wonderful man to spend the rest of my life with.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

just around the river bend

Doug took me kayaking yesterday in the river that goes through our town. It was a lot of logistics first of leaving cars at one end, and carpooling to the other end, etc, but it was worth it I thought.
I have kayaked before, in lakes, and even on a river once. He might not have guessed that from my kayak skills demonstrated yesterday though. He put my boat in and instantly I was in these choppy waters and into a big overhanging branch. Another time the loop on the end of my kayak for carrying it got stuck on a branch and I watched Doug getting further and further away while I was trapped. He paddled upstream to get me, then swam over to free me. My hero! It was really peaceful and beautiful on the river. We saw ducks, a family of geese, a crane, and a deer that was probably 8 feet away sitting in really tall grass and thinking we couldn't see him.
Even with all our logistical planning I left my bag in the wrong car so had no change of clothes, and a wet bathing suit bottom so we just went to taco bell for dinner. Doug had been wanting to introduce me to some cinnabun ball things they have, yum. And then I went home only to realize I couldn't find my purse. I became convinced that I had left it on the table and was looking everywhere, even in the pantry and freezer. So finally I remembered I left it on Doug's table. And as I start out the door I realized he was probably almost home and would bring it to me. So I didn't want to leave and then miss him midway. Jill said I could use her phone to call him, but I don't even know his phone number! Shame! So I fb msg'd him and he was on his way. My hero again :)
Tonight he came over for some beef and bean enchiladas I made with roasted pepper (thanks Phil!) sauce. It was ok. Needed toppings. And we just sat on the couch and talked. I was trying to get a picture with my boys, but we took like 20 and Doug was making some silly face in EVERY one. This picture's theme was 'let's yawn like Becks'. (only Becks had stopped yawning by then)
Actually in most of the 20 pictures Doug's face is a version of this face, even though the rest of the theme was 'take a good picture together' haha.

Monday, June 2, 2014

this sandwich could change me

I'm not really a sandwich eater. I will take one in my lunch if I'm desperate, and I do like grilled cheese and stuff from subway, but high school Anne ruined sandwich eating forever. Everyday in high school I used to eat a half sandwich with 2-3 pieces of that super thin turkey (not even a full serving size) and a slice of cheese. And I ate it warm-ish right out of my sitting-in-my-locker-all-day lunchbag. Thinking back I can see why I was so skinny back in high school. Every morning I'd have a cup of milk, a piece of toast and an apple. Or the occasional lucky day when dad would make me eggs and potatoes... miss those days! I would take all of these things into the shower with me while I was getting ready, I'd set them on the far ledge of the tub and take bites occasionally. I don't do this anymore, but I still eat breakfast in the bathroom most mornings when I'm not eating it at work. Anyway, I didn't eat much but I don't remember ever feeling hungry either!? Supply and demand I guess.
Anyway, on to the sandwich. A week or so ago someone posted one of those things on facebook, 52 meals under 12 minutes. And I made a note of a few to try, one was this:
And I was thinking, hmmm, oniony oiled beans? But I made it, and it was delicious
Yum. Really good.
This weekend was a quick one since I worked Saturday. I got to meet my friend's beautiful new baby, went to church with Jill, and spent a bit of Sunday bike riding and walking on the trail with Doug. It was a lovely day.
I also made this:
I'm not the best chili maker, Jill makes a good one, but this time Doug was nearby and told me to put rice in it, and it was pretty good. Lots of beans, lots of protein and fiber!