A couple weeks ago I started getting strange ideas that maybe the proposal was coming sooner rather than later. Deep down though, I knew it was wishful thinking, as it did not match up with "the timeline" we had occasionally discussed earlier.

A few days prior, Josh suggested he cook me a nice dinner and then we head downtown to Chocolate Cafe.

"Hmmm," I thought, "Josh is planning something. That's not normal..." (Sorry, honey)

I tried to talk myself down of course and even dressed down to not get overly excited. Once Josh got there, all calm and casual, I KNEW nothing was gonna happen. It was just a normal date, which was fine with me.

Josh made a yummy dinner - steaks on the George Foreman, steamed mixed veggies and mashed potatoes, along with some wine we picked up from Bloomington the weekend prior.

After dinner we bundled up and drove downtown. We got hot chocolate and sat at "our table" from our first date 1 year, 1 month, 1 week, and 2 days prior. After awhile Josh suggested we go look at the Christmas lights downtown. In between the Chocolate Cafe and the College Football Hall of Fame was a beautiful archway of Christmas lights. We were standing underneath the arch when Josh started giving me all these sweet compliments and then said, "I have a question to ask you." My ears couldn't believe what I heard, and my eyes couldn't believe what they saw when he got down on one knee (on the cold, icy sidewalk), pulled out a beautiful ring, and asked me to marry him.

Full of shock, my response was, "Are you serious?!?" After much crying and hugging and kissing and giggling, I realized I hadn't actually provided an answer. "Yes, Josh H***, I will marry you." I said clearly and excitedly. So, on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 about 8:50 pm, Josh went from being my boyfriend to my fiance!

A bit later he said, "I think we have some paparazzi watching us." I turned around to discover my brother & sister-in-law behind us taking photos of the big event!

Eventually we went back inside, shared stories, and made phone calls. I had to hear all the details of when he talked to my parents, when he got the ring, and when he started making sneaky arrangements with Jen and Andy.

The whole thing was so stunning I could barely believe it was all happening to me! I am thrilled to be Josh's fiance and know I will adore being his wife too!

A few months ago at a silent auction I bid on tickets to an IU basketball game. The timing of the game was, honestly, a little inconvenient, but Josh and I were determined to use them and enjoy them.

Turns out the timing was quite perfect as the Bloomington CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau) just started offering their wonderful winter getaway package!! I was so excited when I got the postcard in the mail. It pays to be on mailing lists!

Through this winter getaway package, we automatically received 15% off our hotel! In addition, we received a bottle of wine upon check-in. We definitely wanted to visit the local shops and restaurants, rather than going to places we can go to here in Michiana. Perfect for us, the package included gift certificates to a number of local places, so that easily determined where we would go!

Before Bloomington, I rode down to Indy with my co-worker for our staff holiday party at our Headquarters. When all our staff is gathered together, we are quite a kooky crowd. We had an ugly Christmas sweater contest, a name-that-barely-recognizable-Christmas-carol-contest, JibJab videos with multiple staff members, and our annual white elephant gift exchange!

After the festivities ended, I met up with Charissa. We went out to Broad Ripple, a trendy area with little shops and cafes and such. Afterwards we wandered through Crate & Barrel, Victoria's Secret, & Tiffany's while waiting for our to-go order at the oh-so-yummy P.F. Chang's. Lettuce wraps, honey chicken, and ginger chicken. We also got Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake & Red Velvet Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, took it all home, and shared everything while watching "Confessions of a Shopaholic". What fun!!


Saturday morning Josh drove down to Charissa's, and we went on from there. We had lunch in Bloomington at Lenny's, a local college hangout, where we had a $10 gift card.


We ran some errands and then went downtown, discovering a great cafe, Blu Boy where the owner was so sweet to us and gave us free (expensive) chocolate.

We did some shopping and window shopping and then ordered some awesome pizza from Pizza X. We had a $4 off coupon, and the guy hooked us up with free drinks! We took the pizza back to our hotel and then got ready for the big game!

I cannot even tell you how A M A Z I N G our seats were!!! We were in the second row, the first row being chairs set up on the courts. Our "second row" seats were the very first row of the bleachers! We had space next to us and behind us. We were right behind the table of broadcasters and even made it on camera apparently.

It was soooo fun to hear the band, watch the cheerleaders, oh, and watch the game! It was a good game, and "our team" (IU) won in the end, yea!

The next day we slept in, had our own little mini church service, and then went back downtown for lunch at Grazie, a really nice Italian restaurant, where we had a $20 gift card! The food was SO good, and the atmosphere was nice too!

Afterward we headed north, stopping at The Oliver Winery where we received a couple of wine goblets for free. We also went on a tour of the winery and enjoyed free tastings. It was our first time at a winery, and it was definitely a fun experience.


What a memorable weekend in Bloomington with my sweety!!

• Staff Holiday Party
• Hanging in Indy with Cha-Cha
• Exploring Bloomington with Josh
• Our Winter Package deal specials and incentives
• Watching the Indiana University Hoosiers courtside in the second row - whoa!
• Having all my Christmas presents wrapped
• Getting my Christmas cards sent out
• Christmas Eve with Josh's family
• Christmas Eve church service
• Christmas brunch at my family's
• Christmas caroling with Jen's family
• Traveling
• Vacation
• Heading south to warmer temps
• Hopefully hitting some after-Christmas sales
• Sleep

Goodnight!

A couple years ago my sister-in-law Jen and I headed south to Indy to visit Jen's sister Charissa (or Cha-Cha as I like to call her). Sunday morning we got up early for church. We were each doing our own thing getting ready for the day, brushing teeth, doing hair, getting dressed, etc. Once we were all ready, we were quite surprised to see eachother's outfits.


Yep, that was definitely not planned! Just a coincidence. Ha ha!

This Friday I get to hang with Charissa again in Indy. I'm so excited! But I think I'll leave that outfit at home this time.

• I like cheap! After much discussion, Josh & I decided to go to Cici's for our dinner before our last FPU class. We enjoyed a wide variety of pizzas, salads, cheesy garlic bread, and desserts - divine cinnamon rolls and brownies all for $4.99 each!

• Yes, FPU is over. It was a long 14 weeks! We both agree it was a good class with great benefits and that we learned a lot! But we are happy to have our Sunday evenings free again!

• My downstairs neighbors moved out yesterday. 4 1/2 years of living together. I miss them already. But I've already got someone else lined up to move in next month! Cheri, one of my girls from a Growth Group a couple years ago. That will be fun!

• Seeing the empty apartment was sad but also hopeful. It made me start thinking how I would set up house if I was moving into it. Sometimes a fresh start is good. I wish I didn't have so much clutter in my apartment. It just seems to pile up until it's out of control.

• I'm proud to see the Indianapolis Colts doing so well!

• I'm so glad that the last couple days have been warmer than earlier in the week!! We were having days with single degree temps for our high and wind gusts up to 50-60 mph!! That was incredibly rough. But, most of the snow has melted now. We had a warm-up and even saw the sun again! In case you weren't aware, winter is a very challenging time for me. Southern California softened me, and I've never been the same.

• Speaking of California, I'd like to know why I keep dreaming I am back in California and back at my old job. My old job doesn't even exist anymore (which you would know if you clicked on that link)! Last night's dream was a combo of being back in L.A. AND being back in Okinawa. Why?... I don't know. But Okinawa was quite emotional for me.

• Speaking of emotions, woo, my pastor should have warned us to bring extra tissues to the service today! The morning was phenomenal! Friends who are moving away lead us in worship and meditation before communion. The whole worship team sounded GREAT. The best way to describe the morning is that they BROUGHT IT! Sam's message was full of honesty that hit hard, and it wasn't just me. I was literally surrounded by crying people. The message was full of the good news that there is hope in the Lord, no matter what are life circumstances are! Truly amazing! What a blessing to be a part of this church!!

• I decided to take last Friday afternoon off work. I had a number of personal errands to run and wanted to get them done on a weekday rather than the weekend. I feel like I could stand to take 2-3 more days off, ha!

• Josh & I went to the Goshen High School Christmas Concert the other day. Previously I had only heard the 5th-8th grade choirs and middle school and high school musicals. Wow, they sounded great, and it was such a treat to be there! And to actually enjoy a concert with my honey next to me, rather than up on stage directing!
  

Well, since I have thus far received NO feedback, I will write about whatever I want to write about!

Check out this lovely fruit & cheese platter I planned for our HOH (Holiday Open House) last week:

I had never done a fruit & cheese platter before. I researched a little online, conferred with my cheese expert boyfriend, checked what was on sale, and voila!

It had cheddar, colby/monterey jack, muenster, and gouda. Yum! Fruit consisted of grapes, strawberries, pineapple, and cantaloupe. It was beautiful and tasted good too!

I also provided a veggie tray and my classic mini cream puffs. We had some terrific desserts and coffee donated. And thanks to a friend's referral on Facebook, I found an amazing caterer who provided a variety of hot dips with breads and crackers, spinach balls, chicken kabobs, and apricot kielbasas. YUMMMMMMY! I'll give you her name if you are interested.

I made beautiful sponsorship boards, and the place looked great. I also did a good job schmoozing with new people and old alike. Josh was there (except for the part when he had to go play piano for the 5th & 6th grade orchestra concert!), and he also did a great job schmoozing. I was so proud of him!! Mom and Andy showed up, and they were all a great help!



I just recently discovered this GREAT little bakery/cafe/deli in Goshen called Dutch Maid Bakery. They were kind enough to donate 12 dozen cookies!! They looked and tasted great! Then, there's the other donation. And I'm even gonna mention the name. Bread & Chocolate agreed to donate "2 trays of assorted desserts for 100 people." We ended up with 12 mini (1" square) brownies, 12 pumpkin mushy things and 12 cookies. Their almond cookies & cocoa cookies were good, but leftovers the next day were hard. The other items weren't impressive. I had thought they would be better. Now I know.


Afterward, Sweetie and I went to our Dunkin' Donuts to have decaf coffee and chat. Things were so crazy at the HOH that I forgot to have someone take our picture with us all dressed up. Fortunately, the cashier at Dunkin' was willing to help us out.

Another successful event planned by ME! What fun!

I came across these pictures tonight. They were taken the day after my 30th Birthday Party. It's just me and Ava hangin' out. Savvy and skilled blog readers will recognize her from her younger days. I still love to compare the pictures. My expression in the fourth picture below still goes with the pics of younger days.

What would you like to hear about? Or what would you like to see?

Feedback appreciated - anonymous or not.

Oh man, it's definitely one of those nights where I don't want to go to bed. Not because I feel like I haven't accomplished enough for the day (I get those a lot, unfortunately). But because I want to relish in this moment of feeling utterly, completely, beyond-words blessed!

My heart is full. So full it's overflowing. It makes me want to share those blessings with others. It makes me grateful for everything I have, everyone I know, and everything I've experienced! And, yes, even the trials. For it is in the trials that I am closest to my Lord. The one who never leaves me nor forsakes me.

My Thanksgiving Weekend has been wonderful. I was blessed with a super early release from work Wednesday, sharing lunch with my mom, and then heading up north with my honey and his parents. Josh & I stayed at his Granny's, and I enjoyed getting to spend more time with her and chat and get to know her better. We have a lot in common, including late night snacking, which we did together just before the clock struck 12 the eve prior to Thanksgiving.

Thursday I got to sleep in, all snuggled up in bed and then awoke to find Josh's parents had brought us coffee. Mmm, what a great way to start my day! We had a nice time over at Josh's aunt & uncle's for Thanksgiving dinner. The house was packed with 21 people - and that was still missing a few family members! Have I mentioned I love big families?

Friday morning I met Josh and his mom and later his brother for some shopping. All the early bird specials I wanted were already sold out. Argh. I found some other things though that will make do under the tree.

Tonight we spent the evening at my folks, having Thanksgiving part two. All the yummy traditional foods that I've grown up with for many, many years. They had pumpkin pie, and I brought blueberry pie, which made the meal complete. Afterwards, we relaxed, chatted, looked at pictures that Andy found in the basement, played Skip-Bo, and then joined Mom & Dad in their regular Friday night date TV viewing (Monk & White Collar).

The night ended with a text message of exciting news from a friend and then us kids scraping frost off our windshields. 28 degrees, wind chill of 22, and I didn't care. It might have been the best part of the day. We all helped each other and laughed and shivered and made memories. We left my parents' with full bellies and full hearts. Very blessed indeed.

The wedding weekend in Texas was great. I'm still recovering from the jet lag, time changes, and lack of sleep.

I leave in a couple hours again for up north to Josh's dad's family. I love being around big families, so I'm excited. But I also realize I haven't even unpacked from Texas and it's already time to pack again!

I'll try to post some pics; otherwise, you can find them on Facebook. Do I have any blog readers who aren't fb friends with me??

Just a quick note here while I munch on an English muffin for breakfast.

Filming yesterday went great. It was very cool to experience, but I wouldn't want to do it every day. It was super exhausting.

That was yesterday. Today I fly to Dallas/Fort Worth via Chicago & Denver. I always get nervous when I fly, and I always get nervous when I'm in a wedding (the reason for the trip), so pray for me! It should be a good weekend with my man and my girlfriends!

Here are some photos from the shoot. Enjoy!