2010

Some things that have happened this year:

*  Surviving my second after Brew fest activities with Chad and a wonderful group of men- getting relationship advice from men, and losing my bracelet made by Malissa
*  the birth of my niece Tegan
*  Gaining an actual title at work- Office Coordinator 
*  getting rained out at the St Pete race which made for 2 days at the track and wearing jeans
*  experiencing Universal Studios for the first time
*  Inheriting ducks as kids while at the apartment that showed up for dinner most days thanks to Darren
*  sharing an apartment
*  moving into Darren's house
*  putting 2 apartments into a house- it's still a work in progress
*  taking my family to the track for a tour
*  my third Indy 500, second with Darren
*  2 visits from Malissa; my visit to see her in Ohio
*  spending Easter for the second year with Darren's family
*  visiting the local pool, once
*  not realizing we were nearly in Canada until crossing the border
*  being proposed to in a hotel room
*  realizing the hotel pool was disgusting
*  having to wait 2 days before sharing it with family and friends when we crossed back into the US
*  asking a pit crew member for a team shirt
*  surviving slumber parties @ Chad's
*  a full grounds tour at the track and sharing it with Darren, his parents and grandpa
*  Celebrating the engagement with Chad and his excitement about being at my side
*  visiting Mansfield reformatory with Malissa, my first prison shoot
*  Celebrating my 26th Birthday with just Darren- realizing how much I like to have my family around for those
*  Our trip to California: my first visit to San Fran, seeing Dana and Josh, Yosemite and not thinking I was going to live to see another day, staying in a hotel that had NO hair shampoo so I washed with body soap, Korbel tour, and the Race where we shared a bottle of Korbel
*  A great engagement photo session with my cousin and his family
*  Having a mini break down in the dentist office as they are prepping me for a filling
*  Darren's parents meeting my mom- and being a nervous wreck
*  Going wedding dress shopping and thinking I was going to have an anxiety attack
*  Attempting to plan a wedding- In which Mrs. D has been so great with suggestions and listening
*  Some friendships dissolving and wanting to work on others
*  Finding THE dress with Jess and no stress
*  Getting Save the Date photos out to our family and close friends
*  Asking to elope in Vegas for the millionth time-  Darren  has not caved in
*  Seeing ND football with Darren's friends
*  Playing the Wii in our own family competitions
*  Realizing my niece is growing up so fast
*  Having my relationships evolve with my sister and friends
*  Beginning orthodontic treatment- its been hard in regards to food do's and dont's but in 12 weeks seeing such a difference
*  Having phone dates with one of my first College roommates on a weekly basis, but then came the holidays
*  A few trips to see Shana and the family- with Halloween pumpkin carving being a big hit again
*  Realizing that I have changed and how I want to be a better person, less OCD, and that I have grown up
*  Making so many desserts for my Mom's 50th Birthday/Thanksgiving
*  Being sneaky about Darren's Christmas gifts
*  Finishing another semester of classes
*  Being able to go to Phi Mu Alumnae events
*  Seeing Wicked for the first time and loving it
*  Realizing we did not mail out Christmas cards and not worrying about it- life's crazy
*  Taking a bath in our home for about 5 days straight, then showers while away for Christmas then a couple more
*  Getting a whole different hair style
*  Hosting our first Dinner party for my co-workers and their significant others
*  Living in a construction zone since May- but its getting there

I am sure I missed other things but these are some of the few things that stick out in my head and that were captured.   It has been a year of ups and downs and laughs and break downs on my part but realizing how blessed and Loved I am and that life is a work in progress. 

I have quite a few goals and things I am looking forward to in the year to come- more on that soon.

Things that have happened

Some things that have happened since my last post:

*  I found a photographer and will meet with her in January sometime to see her portfolio and get details
*  Another semester of class has been completed
*  I got to see Wicked and it was great, an awesome gift- to myself
*  Took baths for a week straight due to our full bathroom being torn down for the tiling and such
*  Stayed up way too late baking and getting things ready to see our families and then sleeping in and being late to work (mind that this was a 6:30am start for the office and not the regular 8:30)

*  Got to take a shower, my first in a week

*  Managed to forget items at home when we headed to the Bend

*  Time with my family: my niece Tegan was slightly more excited about the tissue paper than her gifts BUT grandma knocked it out of the ballpark with a Build-A-Bear, her face lit up so fast it was great

*  Found out that Tegan can blow kisses, she is 10 months and this amazed me, she also made a fish face, got angry about being dressed, enjoyed the cookies that grandpa bribed her with
*  We played Wii once again and I was almost the tennis champion and only had to defeat Darren, thanks to Eze and his distractions I lost
*  I got little time with my extended family as they came much later than anticipated but It was great and mostly relaxing

*  We made it safely to the W and got a decent nights rest before Christmas Day

*  I got to take my second shower
*  Relaxed, helped Mrs. D with her iphone, then everyone arrived for lunch
*  I got to see Toy Story 3 for a second and third time, I fell asleep towards the end but Carter came to wake me up and it was funny to see his excitement about how I missed the claw (there are games on the link)
*  We saw the boys tear through their gifts, Chase gave us quite a few full sentences
*  And then we came back home, this time I stayed awake- we opened our gifts and Darren prepared his autograph items for the next morning
*  I have since mostly laid around the house, cleaned what I could with all the various construction items around the house its not as easy as I like or even as clean as it should be
* Its cold out and I do not want to face it, we did go see The Tourist last night- it was good

Here are a few photos from this Christmas

 Tegan likes the camera, wanting to see the image after it was taken and then she would kiss the screen of her photo.  She also climbed on Luz(mom) for the cookies she had, and she got angry when she pulled them further away.  But of course my sister gave in.

The girls

 Dad, grandpa and Eze.  Tegan giving her bear kisses.

 Edina took care of Tegan while mom and Luz went shopping, she made her a bottle and I wrapped her up on my lap, she was out before we knew it.  But woke up in a good mood.  On the Right she is blowing kisses- I have a short video but I will have to see if its possible to change the image upright.

 Darren was tapping his foot and Tegan came and nearly sat on it and she would hold his foot, then move it and then grab his foot again.  Tegan also enjoyed her sippy cup that we got her.

 It was fun to see the boys ready to open each gift, they would get one open and the next would come.

 At the end of a busy day the boys came down to see the movie and they were relaxing.

Some things to look forward to:

Having co-workers over for an end of the year gathering later this week, just hope Darren can get things done as he planned on

Seeing Jess for the first time in 2 months, she is engaged and this will be interesting as she is in our wedding

We start pre-marriage counseling in January: I am interested to see how this will help us

Meeting the photographer

Figuring out my vacation days for 2011-Darren has planned on a few weekend getaways that will mess with everything else on my schedule

Possibly joining a group at the church for engaged and young married couples

Planning this wedding: we need suits and tents taken care of soon: can we still go to Vegas?!

Setting atleast a once a month get together with Darren's sister and her family

To see me slowly lose it with too much stress

Wonderfullness

This week has been a project filled week in our home. My dad came into town Sunday afternoon and stayed until the plumber left on Friday afternoon. In the time he was with us 2 of our bedrooms have bi-fold closet doors, the door for the hallway closet and basement have been replaced, about half of the tiling for the full bathroom has been laid and some insulation on the outside wall. It's been a lot that both my dad & Darren have been working on this week. Last night Darren was on his own so I heard a little bit of frustration as he tried to level the tub and trimmed cement board for the 3 walls surrounding the tub.

It was really great to have my dad here with us, he did what he could by himself while we were at work and then the progress would continue with Darren's arrival from school. I made dinner a couple nights when I got in and we sat down to talk and eat.

Darren has a little bit of work in front of him to finish up the bathroom and make it useable. We already have our color picked out for the bathroom, and tile for around the bathtub. But I know it's a lot of hours to get things set and dry before we can use the room. Although I may have to take a bath, if he will let me, I still have to stay clean.

Music...

I only listen to K-Love when I drive, I highly recommend the station.  These songs make me feel good, just listen to the words- the messages are so great.



I never connected that Jason Castro was on American Idol, mostly because I am not addicted to the show.  So if he looks familiar I am sure the dreadlocks got you there.





This song introduced me to Jonny Diaz, something to think about as a woman.  I always imagined the video in my head while driving and it looked quite a bit different than what they came up with, regardless the words are what get me.

Here comes Christmas

I have been looking forward to the wonderfulness of the winter celebrations. The idea of getting the house ready for Christmas with decorations and the great cheer that I long for. There has been such great excitement for as long as I can remember and having a home with Darren to share and begin to make the memories that we will never forget. Well after taking the 24th of November off from work to make desserts for Thanksgiving, which were a hit, and bringing the babies back to Indy for the weekend, Darren and I put up a Christmas tree. I realized that my 2 small boxes would not go far at all when it comes to decorating. We have a wreath at the front door, our stockings and the babies, a couple small snowman related items, a tree with lights and 3 ornaments. Darren stated on Sunday that he would be putting up ornaments on Monday, but it's Wednesday and he has not done or said anything about getting to it, and until he decides to put some up it will stay that way.
I wrapped a couple of presents and this weekend I will finish my shopping and wrapping. So even if the decorating, rather the lack of, has brought my spirits down the Christmas music and prep should help get me back in gear.

Motivation?!

In the last few weeks I have realized that my motivation to plan this wedding has begun it's downward spiral. I know the next couple of things I need to take care of but have no push to get with it and tackle them. I need, must come up with 3 photographers and then nail it down to one that we will use for the day. D-day. I have left Darren to figure out the suit situation, went to a national chain and according to Darren and his old friends it's too pricey for a rental. So Darren asked one of the guys to help out, which means this friend and his wife are doing the research for him. I told Darren maybe I should marry the couple instead of him if they are going to do all the work for him. Sidenote: this is not the first time he asked the couple for assistance. I am frustrated and so if nothing comes about in the 2 week time span I will go to the first store and get it taken care of. I have no idea as to what to do about flowers but after january I will look into it. We have bought several different types of centerpieces that will work cohesively.

Although I have my fears, and uncertainties about how to put it all together. Thankfully Mrs. D is great about giving input. And it will come together beautifully and maybe at that final moment I will be hairless from all the stress. But until then I need the motivation, in all aspects of my life.

Halloween

This year we did our pumpkin carving with the boys a couple days before Halloween.  And it went really great.  Chase really showed his personality and Carter has grown up, wanting to do everything by himself- and he did a great job at it too.

Darren with the boys tracing the faces on to cut out.

Darren and Chase cut their pumpkin together.

Carter working, concentrating on the cuts.

Chase had the candles as we prepared to take them outside and light up for everyone to see.

Carter & I made a ghost face while Chase & Darren made a jack-o-lantern.

Carter let us know the difference between a jack-o-lantern and a pumpkin.

Outside with the pumpkins.

 

I was able to get some goodies for Halloween, I found the plastic teeth and glasses at Target, among other things that scored with them.

The boys played around for quite awhile before we had to head out.

Chase wanted to take photos, so I helped him as he pushed the camera button we captured Darren.

After all the fun we had to head up to the bend for a football game the next day.

But before we could leave we had to play some Wii. 

I only get to play with Eze since he got one over a year ago, but you have to wait cause sometimes he just wants an audience.

Then after some tailgaiting the 4 of us went in for an interesting game.

These are Darren's friends and our 3rd year catching a game each season. 

They are probably my top couple of Darren's friends to hang out with even if it is just once a year.

And the Men.

It was a great weekend, topped off with sugar cookies made by Mrs. D that were delicious.

Check it off the list

Another thing to check off of the wedding list, we have a church, reception space and pastors to marry us come July.  I have my dress, I believe I stated that previously, wedding party in tow, and tons of ideas about how I would like the space to be set up- at least the reception area.

We will be getting married at Darren's church, here in Indy.  Darren and I have found it truly hard to find a space for the reception that is close to the church but also will allow us to bring our own food instead of catering.  It became a great stress in the planning.  I went in to the church a couple weeks ago to ask about the lawn, they have a nice space to the side of the church with a playground, pavilion and yard, they had never been asked about using the lawn so it had to be brought up to the church staff.  And the Monday after I had asked the secretary she had emailed me to let us know that they would allow us to use the space.  She stated that they all agreed that it was a great idea to help us out, which is awesome because I have been seeing a white tent in my mind for the reception for a few weeks before I asked. 
This also led us to start to gain ground on the ceremony and how it would come together, we met with Assistant Pastor C, I also have my Uncle who is of course a Pastor and will share duties in the ceremony.  When meeting with Pastor C we had a few questions, he addressed those and answered questions I did not know that we had.  Talked about premarital classes, Darren and I both agreed on this way before we were engaged, anyway to work on our relationship and communication is a great thing.  Pastor C helped in realizing just how manageable it will be for the ceremony, how to make it ours.  We walked through the Sanctuary which is a different set up than most traditional churches and will have to take some of my planning committee through to help with ideas, the area outside and continued to talk about how people use the space.  In the end I felt much more prepared, like a light had sparked that made things more clear on the direction we are heading in planning.  Its become less stress and more exciting!

Engagement Photos

So last Saturday my cousin Jesse, his wife Colleen with their 2 kids, Miguel and Isabel traveled to Indy to take our engagement photos.  It started off as a really dreary and rainy Saturday but by the time we were to meet at Fort Ben on the East Side of Indy the sun came out to join us with the wind as its sidekick.  Here are some photos.

*Note that I have not taken the time to photoshop any of them just yet, and this is a small selection from the 2gb disk we used.  A few will be selected, photoshopped then printed for our own use.

This hat, a Malissa find, of course I had to take a few with it on.

Laughing after I attempted to do my Mom's pose.

Being silly with Isabel.

The wind helped my hair whip Darren in the face.

This picture to me seems surreal, like we were photoshopped in but of course we were there.  Obviously I need to remove the spot from Darren's face.

If you know or have met Darren about 99% of the time he is wearing something ridiculous from Ball State and I thought what better way to represent who he is in the photos than to dress him in something that he wears way too often.