#69: Break Time

Well folks, I've missed a couple of posts and have not been feeling like myself for the past few days, so I've decided to take a break from blogging. I don't want to set a return date, but I'm hoping in the next week or so I'll be back in full form, ready to update you on life and wedding plans!

But for now, entertain yourself with our wedding website (and make sure you leave a comment! There's a link at the bottom of our home page.)!

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers! I've never been out of sorts for this many days in a row before and am hoping to be back to normal soon :) xo

#68: Merry Christmas

Introducing our wedding website!!! Check it out and let us know what you think!!! Thanks to Peter Davis for the excellent design and execution!! Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends and remember what this season is all about!

Click here to visit our site or just check it out below!

#67: House Hunters

Although J and I know for sure that we're moving into an apartment come June, it doesn't deter me from doing a little house hunting in my spare time. I'd like to thank the Petersiks over the Young House Love for that. They recently bought a new house and I now love little one level ranchers. I never thought I could. But now I do. The brick, the..one level, the detached garages, all of it. Crazy.

I was on Zillow.com the other day just perusing houses in the Richmond area and I found a house (although, not a one level rancher) that literally took my breath away (cue Top Gun soundtrack). Of the seven photos of the house on Zillow, I gasped at five of them.

You can also find the house at http://www.609bancroft.com/.

Here are the stats on the house that I am in love with, but will never move into:

- 4 bedrooms
- 3 bathrooms
- Originally built in 1915
- Roughly 1,800 square feet
- 4 fireplaces (all with restored original mantles!)
- Original 1910 clawfoot bathtub in the upstairs bathroom. Yes please.

And without further ado, here are the pictures I got off Zillow:

 Gorgeous outside! Love the covered porch and the dark wood front door.

 Gasp #1: Love the ceilings and the dark wood mantle. I die. Seriously. And don't even get me started on the high ceiling and the super wide doorway!

 I feel like this room has SO much potential. Perfect. Imagine the light fixture possibilities!

 Gorgeous well-lit dining room area. And the dark wood floors. Gasp #2.

 I can't believe the spaciousness of this kitchen! Gasp #3, soooo much potential in this kitchen. Matching barstools would be a must. Maybe take out the storage on the left and extend the counter and put in more cabinets (matching of course). And the walk in pantry on the right? I die.

 Um, HELLO his and her sinks in the master bathroom! I love them! Definitely gasp #4. Again with the dark wood. But I love the seperate mirrors, the gorgeous lighting AND the vanity in between.

Gasp #5: I love love LOVE indoor sunrooms and patios. The light wood cabinets make the room feel light and airy. This room has a lot of potential for changes. I would probably get rid of the cabinets or find use for them elsewhere in the house, only because J has some amazing artwork that would go great in a sunny room like this. I'm seeing a nice daybed and some comfy chairs and of course, lots of plants that I hope to somehow keep alive.

So there's the house that made me die. Literally. It's bananas. (Puh-lease tell me you watch The Rachel Zoe Project?)

#66: Knotties

No, this post isn't about how to tie different knots (although I do know two Eagle Scouts that could teach you a thing or two about knot-tying...). Soon after we got engaged, I discovered The Knot. Really original name...tying the knot...the knot...dot com. So clever.

From here on out, I'll be referring to The Knot as TK. You'll understand why when I start using all the other abbreviations people use on this site.

TK has a lot of cool features, most of which I don't care for or need. They have gobs of photos of bridal gowns, shoes (all ugly), bridesmaids dresses, flowers, cakes, you name it, they got it. They also have a checklist...check mine out.

See how many things I have yet to do? Let me show you my edited screenshot.

Yes, that would be 154 items, in case the font is too small for you to see it...thanks TK. Really.

The feature I love most about this site though, is the boards. People can post about anything and everything and then other people can respond and create a thread. This is very similar to a facebook status or something and having people comment on it.

People who post on these boards are called "Knotties." Again with the original name. You're killing me!

I have my June 2011 girls. There's probably over a hundred of us! These are some of the sweetest girls I've ever met (even though I've never met any of them in person!). They are always encouraging and willing to help a girl out. I've asked numerous questions and they've all be answered so sweetly and with such good advice!

We use cool lingo like:

WR = Wedding Related
FI = Fiance
STDs = Save the Dates (I cringe every time I read this...)
WP = Wedding Party
PIP = Picture in Post

I can feel your jealousy of our cool "knottie lingo" oozing through the computer screen. I know. You don't have to tell me. If you want to be cool and ask me how my BMs are doing and if my FSIL is cool, go ahead. My bridesmaids are all doing well and my future-sister-in-law is, in fact, very cool. Thanks for asking. Do you feel cool now? And why do I keep using the word cool? Should I switch to groovy? No? ok.

But back to my June 2011 girls. I've got a bunch of date twins (girls who are also getting married on June 25th) and it's so awesome to count down with and chat wedding stuff with girls who are just as obsessed as I am! Because as much as my BMs love me, I'm pretty sure they really don't want to hear all about WR things every time we talk. You're welcome BMs :)

Another groovy thing about TK is that there's a step-up place to go AFTER the wedding is over. It's called The Nest. They're killing me with these highly original names! I've ventured over to TN sometimes, but I'm content to stay with my girls for now.

Got any cool abbreviations to share? Just don't be jeal that I use abbrevs. Yeah.

#65: WNU (Wednesday Night Update), Not Quite as Cool as MNF...

I feel like I haven't given you readers a good quality post in awhile...sorry about that. Life has been so crazy and with J home for just two weeks, I'm soaking up all the quality time I have with him. I PROMISE things will get interesting soon! With Christmas and New Years coming up, there will be lots of life (and present!) updates.

All I know is that I hope I don't have this reaction to my presents (credit to J for sending me the link):



I have a very big Christmas present in the works for you! Make sure you check in at some point on Christmas day, I'll post it early!!!

And I promise, something wedding related coming up tomorrow!

#64: Jenga

J and I spent the night watching The Other Guys and playing Jenga and cuddling. Love this man.

#63: Ugly

Saturday night, J and I went to an ugly Christmas sweater party at one of our groomsman's houses (he lives there with his four roommates). With my twinnie in tow, we headed over in our hideous sweaters. Good thing we weren't alone!! Here's a couple pics of our variety of ugly sweaters:

Once we got to the party, Ash and I realized we needed a few things from the store. We didn't realize until we pulled into the parking lot that we would actually have to be in PUBLIC in our sweaters. Enter serious embarrassment here. We just laughed it off.

Laughter is the best medicine. And also might make people think you're crazy...even better.

#62: Christmas Decorating, Part Deux

Today, after lunch with my parents we headed over to J's parent's house to help them decorate for Christmas, hang out, and celebrate J's birthday (which I just realized I TOTALLY forgot to mention on Wednesday...sorry babe!).

J's parents, like mine, have an artificial tree. It greets you right in the foyer as you open the front door. This year, since our niece little E is on the move, they decided to put it on top of a table so she doesn't get into the ornaments/pull the tree down on herself. Thank goodness for the wrap around staircase and ladder! And I got a good workout climbing up and down the stairs decorating the tree :)

Here's J decorating the tree:

And here's the finished product:

We had a delicious dinner and then played Whoonu? J and I had never played before and it was SO much fun! Also, I witnessed J's dad laughing harder than I have ever seen him laugh before! It was hilarious! Definitely a fun night with my second family :) Love them.

PS: Went to an ugly Christmas sweater party last night. Pictures tomorrow!

#61: World Famous

My no-bake chocolate cookies are world famous. Or at least I'd like to think so! I make these cookies every winter, and only in the winter, and you'll see why. All of my friends know me for these cookies and they are frequently requested during the holidays (although I gladly make them well into March).

You've seen my amazing wit and clever writing here, here and here. And you've seen my love for everything diamonds and shoes here and here. And my love for J here and here. So now I introduce to my love of (non) baking. Here we go!

Step 1: Get mom's completely handwritten cookbook off the shelf. I really gotta get me one of these. Maybe my mom has time to write out all the recipes between now and June? I doubt it. I may just have to resort to photocopying every page (we use a lot of the recipes in the book regularly). I asked my mom where this recipe came from and she said she was pretty sure she got it from her mom. Awesome.

 Step 2: Turn to the first page under "cookies." It's (very appropriately) the first recipe. I love my mom's handwriting. (Feel free to enlarge the picture and copy the recipe. I can tell you though, without a doubt, you will screw up the first time. I promise. So buy extra ingredients.

Step 3: Gather all necessary ingredients. Pretty basic stuff: milk (yes, I drink skim milk), oatmeal (NOT instant oats), cocoa powder, coconut, butter, sugar, vanilla extract and pecans. This is not a nut-optional recipe, they must be included (it helps to keep everything together).

Step 4: Gather all necessary measuring cups/spoons.

Step 5: Put milk, sugar and butter in a saucepan. I cut up the butter (since it was rock hard from the fridge) to help it melt faster.

Step 6: Start measuring out the rest of the ingredients. And if you're cool like me, you give the counter a little love too.

Step 7: Get a little monster in the kitchen. A very, very rambunctious monster. I asked him to stop running around and smile for me. This is what I got:

Step 8: Get all the dry ingredients measured out and ready to go. You'll see why later.

Step 9: Since you're about to turn the stove on (for the milk, sugar and butter mixture), make sure little monster stays out of the way. In our house, this means the boys aren't allowed on the rug (the other end hits right at the stove). Here, Grammy is instructing little monster where he can sit.

Step 10: Turn on the stove. I usually keep it up pretty high until the butter melts, then turn it to medium-low (4).

Step 11: Line two cookie sheets with wax paper. Set aside. Put on to of clean dishes in the sink if you live in a house with eight people and there is no counter space.

Step 12: Uh-oh. Grammy's on the rug. And it's not allowed. Let's lift her butt and get it off the rug.

Step 13: While you're waiting for the delicious, sugary mixture to come to a full boil, admire your new green sweater dress you mentioned here and the new boots you just bought for $20 off. You mentioned them here.

Step 14: This is what a full boil looks like. It needs to look like this for about a minute in order for the sugar to fully dissolve. This is a MUST. It affects how the cookies will turn out.

Step 15: Turn off stove and move the saucepan to a solid surface. I put my on a hot pad on the counter, so it won't slide around. Mix in cocoa and vanilla extract. Take a cool action shot.

Step 16: Mix in the rest of the ingredients. I usually do coconut first, then oatmeal, then pecans. Make sure you chop up the pecans pretty small. Admire the deliciousness. But work quickly because once this loses heat, it'll start to clump together.

Step 17: Scoop the mixture with two spoons and place onto the cookie sheet. Make the cookies as small or as large as you want. Since I made these for a party, I made them pretty small, so they'll go farther. I got 50 cookies from one batch.

Step 18: Admire your handiwork. And then put the cookies in the car. Not kidding. Or you can put them in the fridge. I think it's more fun to put them in the car, which is why I only make them when they're cold (snow not necessary, but was present this time). They need to be out there (or in the fridge if you're boring) for a couple of hours.

I started a second batch right after I put these in the car. That one went a lot faster. It's amazing how taking pictures of every step really slows you down.

I hope you liked my play-by-play. And by the way, the cookies turned out great...I had to try a few :) Let me know if you try this recipe! Some people have made similar cookies with peanut butter, but I'm not a fan of those. I've eaten these cookies every year for as long as I can remember! Let me know what you think! What's your favorite holiday cookie?

#60: Last Minute

Well, just got home (11:57pm) from a friend's house. We just hung out, had a few drinks and watched football (ok, I didn't really) and laughed.  So nice to have friends who live close by (as in, close enough to walk to when it snows and you don't want to worry about sliding off the road during the half mile drive)  :)

On a side note, we got a couple of inches of snow today. It was kind of nice, especially since I didn't have to be anywhere. It always tends to snow on days I have to work, so this was a nice change.

Off to bed now, busy weekend coming up! Can't wait to see J on Saturday!

#59: So Ashamed

I am a horrible person.

Just yesterday, I was saying how well I was doing on the not-spending-money-until-after-Christmas thing. And today I went and bought six things. Argh. Here's the story: I went to Wal-Mart this morning before work to get some laundry detergent and body wash (sometimes being an adult is really boring). I had some extra time before I had to be at work, so I decided to stop by Ross (literally across the street from my office). Well, voila, 30 minutes later, damage was done.

Here's what I came away with (pictures might follow, depending on the severity of my buyer's remorse and what I end up keeping after trying them on again):
1. Green cable knit sweater dress. It has a hood and really long sleeves (which are great for my super long arms).
2. Red sweater dress with two front buttons and a very wide collar. I think this will probably be worn for Christmas. This one has shorter sleeves though. But it does have pockets :)
3. White sweater dress (well, cream I guess) with a black and red design at the bottom. Faux pockets and super duper cute.
4. A thin long cream/white sweater (I mean, really thin), perfect for layering with jeans and a belt. My first find of all six.
5. A mocha colored short sleeve sweater. Not your typical sweater, as it's more round and shaped differently. Also a perfect sweater for layering with jeans, boots and a belt. Which I very well may do tomorrow.

And the jackpot winner of the bunch is...

6. This puppy. Ain't going back, that's for sure. This dress is PERFECT for a job interview. Which I will have to do in just five short months. So weird. I think this dress is super classy, fits well and would look perfect with a blazer over it. Not too low cut, but definitely is flattering on the figure. And did I mention it's a size small? I can't remember the last time I fit into a small anything! (Please don't roll your eyes at me, I'm being serious here.)

Oh, and did I mention the price?





$7.99. That's right. Boo-yah.

I still feel a tad guilty about how many things I got. I may return some of them. I'll keep you posted.

I was doing SO well too! Might as well go get those shoes now...

#58: Let's Buy Some Shoes

Ok, so at the beginning of my Christmas shopping period (maybe six to eight weeks ago?), I put a pause on personal shopping. I promised myself (this never turns out well) that I would not buy anything for myself until after Christmas.

Surprisingly, I did pretty darn well. As far as I can recall, I've only gotten myself two things.

#1: A braided leather belt for...SIX BUCKS. You really can't beat that. On sale from $25. Heck yes. Reason #2823424349087 why I love Target.

I just love the color variation in the belt AND the fact that it's real leather isn't half bad either.

#2: Over-the-knee boots in Mocha. Bought from Alloy. Regular price $42.90 (what I paid for the black pair I wore in these photos). What I bought the Mocha pair for: $22.90. My sincere thanks to sale e-mails. Man, I love sales.

Not too shabby for a VERY impulsive shopper. Oh, wait. I did buy cable knit black, grey and white striped thigh-high socks...

I mean, it IS below freezing outside. Gotta keep the thighs warm too. And for only $5, it wasn't a bad deal. There's my justification. And everything has to happen in threes right?

So let's now move onto the things I plan on buying as soon as Christmas is over. And yes, I mean Sunday the 26th.

#1: A new pair of black pumps. I sent my old ones to the grave* about two months ago. I just couldn't bear to wear them any longer. They served me well for five years, but the suede outside was falling off and I was resorting to coloring in the patches with a black Sharpie (which, by the way, is a perfectly acceptable and actually recommended way to make your pumps last longer...nobody's THAT close to your shoes to notice the difference). They were also starting to hurt my feet. I think after five years, they started to stretch out with my feet and the ball of my foot kept getting pinched in between the insole and the outside.  I cried and said a little prayer for them as I said goodbye. And then promptly went out and bought a new pair of Candie's (5") stilettos...

I regretted that purchase as soon as I wore them. I decided to "break them in" by wearing them to work for seven hours. I got a lot of compliments, but by the end of the night, I had almost sprained my ankle AND I did pull a muscle in my foot, which still bothers me to this day. So...they got returned. Thankfully, Kohl's will take ANYTHING back, no questions asked. Since I returned those, I haven't found a pair I like yet. But these are promising:

 

The ones on the left look the most similar to my old ones. Priced at $32.99 (Target), it would definitely be worth the investment. The ones on the right, also from Target, have the same round toe that I loved with my old pumps but are a little shiny and would transition well from work to play. They're priced at $29.99 (also a good deal).

#2: A pair of nude pumps. I would really like THESE, but the $775 price tag is a bit of a deterrent (one day, I WILL own a pair of Louboutins, mark my words). So I will settle for these much cheaper look-a-likes (once again, from Target):

Maybe I can find some red paint to paint the soles...tear.

Bee-tee-dubs...just came across these on the Louboutin website...sigh. I think I'm in love.

My wallet is yelling at me to move on...

#3: A playful pair of shoes.

The zebra print is so playful and will show off a great pedicure with the peep-toe (haha I typed poop-tee on the first try...oh boy) action. The heel is high, doesn't look too high, which is a plus. (Orig. $26.99, on sale now for $18.88, Target)

The denim flat is super cute and would go well with my spring/summer wardrobe. Neutral AND denim goes with everything. Perfect. ($24.99, Target)

The last pair is super playful, but I would probably never get them. I need more support in my shoes, especially if I'm going out on the town in them (I know that makes me sound like an old lady, but it's true). I tend to stick to peep toes and boots when I dress up. But I do love the flowers and the double ankle strap on these. ($39.99, Target)

Have you put a pause on personal shopping? If so, how did it go? Are you proud of me? Which of the playful pairs of shoes do you like best?

Stay tuned for that giveaway I mentioned yesterday...it could come any day! Or I could just be stringing you along in order to get more readers...who knows.


*the trashcan. I didn't have the heart to write it all out in one complete sentence. You understand, don't you?

#57: Things I've Learned

I started this blog 57 days ago and boy have I learned a lot about blogging! I've learned to insert pictures, link pages, and how to be funny in my writing (although, I'll admit I'm still working on that one).

I came across this blog about a month ago, and I mentioned it here (see #5 under "edit"). Kendi has such amazing style! But on top of that, she has an amazing blog. She's such a great writer and she's so funny. I feel like I know her even though...I don't.

I've learned a few things about blogging from just reading Kendi's last 30 posts (she did this thing called "30 for 30 remix," where she chose 30 articles of clothing/shoes and only wore those things for 30 days. Hence the "remix" part.):
1. It's ok if you don't know who is reading your blog. Write anyways. Even if no one comments on it, just write. You'll be glad you did.
2. Talk to your readers as if you're having a conversation with them or sending them an e-mail (although I use a lot of smileys and less proper grammar in my personal e-mails...my bad.)
3. Don't care what other people think. Care what you think.
4. Get your cute husband to take pictures of you (Check! Well...I have a cute fiance, does that count?).
5. Have fun! And make fun of yourself.

I am so grateful to all of you who read this blog! And even if you don't comment, which you should because it makes me feel happy and you don't have to have a blogger account to do so, I'm still happy you're here.

I'm thinking of doing some sort of Christmas giveaway...but that would require you to comment. I suggest you learn how to now and get used to doing it and then you'll be able to enter the drawing!

#56: Christmas at My House

We finally got around to putting up our tree yesterday! We've always had an artificial tree (we actually have two!), thanks to mom's allergies. I'm going to be honest though, I don't really mind. We had one last year (we found one mom wasn't allergic to), but it was such a pain, so I'm glad we're back to artificial this year. J and I plan to purchase an artificial one this year after Christmas (hopefully on sale!).

Mom always does something amazing with our tree! We decided to put up the smaller tree (6.5') this year because of space issues, but I think it looks great! Mom did a shelf effect this year (she did this a couple years ago as well and it was a HUGE hit with all the visitors to our house!). It looks a little different than the larger tree would have, because there's one less rung of branches on the smaller tree. Let me know what you think! (And it'll look totally different after all the presents are underneath it!)

Mom put large gold and burgundy ball ornaments on each "shelf" and there's also a large bow on each shelf. But what you can't really see is that there's fruit on the tree as well! There's actually fruit on the ribbon Mom chose, so she decided to go with it and put fruit on the tree itself. Don't worry, it's not real...that would be weird. It's actually sparkly-looking pears and bunches of red grapes. It looks pretty darn cool, if you ask me. Little monster is enthralled by the lights; every time he walks by, he points and says, "tree!" What a cutie patootie.

Mom doesn't do the whole candy cane, Santa, reindeer, snowman Christmas decorating that most people do. She classes it up and does huge arrangements of poinsettias everywhere. Love it.

Here's a backstage photo: (our store room):

(We're not hoarders, I swear! This is just what happens when there's eight people living in one house. And I have a feeling it's only going to get worse once I start acquiring more things for our apartment...)

Now onto the fun part! I posted on Facebook a couple days ago that I was making my own gift tags this year! It was fun, but not as easy as I thought...

I cut white cardstock into 1.5" x 2.5" pieces until I had a pretty good pile of them. Went to Target and bought a pack of four sharpies (black, green, red and blue because all my wrapping paper is white, red and green).  Then I got my handy dandy post-its out for a little practice. Thankfully, they went out with the trash today, so no embarassing outtakes to show you. They were bad though, let me tell you. The holly leaf didn't make the cut to the gift tags, but I did successfully draw two candy canes! It was a fun project! Here's a couple of previews:

I thought it was fun, cost-effective project because Christmas gift tags can cost so much money! I'm pretty sure I'll get a little more creative next year (maybe pull out a stamp or two and ink them on), but for a first try, I think I did pretty well (and J isn't the only creative one of us two!).

What do you think? Did you have any DIY projects for Christmas this year? Do you even have your presents wrapped?

#55: Busy Bee 2

Today has been so super busy! I just realized it's 11:30pm and I have yet to write today's post! Well here's something I've been thinking about today. Totally random, yet interestingly fascinating (Thanks to Alyssa for the link). Enjoy!



How the heck! I will learn this soon. And I will post a video to prove it :)

Hope you are having as productive a weekend as I'm having so far!

On the agenda for tomorrow:
1. Church
2. Lunch (a girl's gotta eat!)
3. Find an ugly Christmas sweater (Party on Saturday!)
4. Finish wrapping my last two presents. That's right. LAST TWO.
5. Take a nap? (Wishful thinking...)

PS: Sorry for all the YouTube videos lately, life has been crazy and inspiration has been somewhat lacking. BUT I do love me some youtube videos, so I'm giving you a glimpse into my life :)

You should link me to one of your favorite YouTube videos! Do it!

#54: Groom Things

While reading my January issue of Brides magazine the other night, I came across a little box titled, "10 Secrets He'll Never Tell You." I thought some of them were very fitting, while others missed the mark for J and I. You figure out which is which (ok, I might give you hints!)

1. He wants to register for one item on his own, even if he never uses it. (J and I actually registered for everything together, even the online stuff we picked out. He has amazing (and expensive) taste when it comes to appliances. But I let him pick out quite a bit!)

2. He cares about the music so much, he'll pay the DJ a bonus not to play "Celebration!" (In our case it would be no "Benny and the Jets" (see here about how much I love that one), no country, and no Ke$ha (um, yes she has a dollar sign instead of an "s"), Justin Bieber, or Lady Gaga (I'll fight on that one though)).

3. He has inexplicably developed a sixth sense: When the phone rings, he knows it's your mom. He'll start answering the phone again after the wedding. (Doesn't really apply to us!)

4. He worries he won't look half as good in his tux as the little man on the cake does. (Even if there were to be a little man on top of my cake, J would look 508348390824 times as good.)

5. He liked taking dancing lessons but wishes they'd included the funky chicken. (Heck, I would wish they'd include the funky chicken!)

6. He will be nervous about his hair and may reach for the mousse. Don't let him. (I don't know if J has used a product one in his hair since he chopped it all off in May 2008.)

7. He wants you to take his name, no matter what he says. Unless your name is Springsteen, in which case he'll take yours. (I joke with J all the time about how I'm just going to keep my name because it'll be a lot easier and I won't have to learn how to write a "G" in cursive. But I'm actually really excited to take his last name, and I think he is too!)

8. He never wants to know which friend gave which gift at your lingerie shower. (I've heard from several sources that this is SO true.)

9. He doesn't want to write his own vows. He really likes the ones in the book. (We talked about vows way, way back and I think we agreed to do traditional vows. Neither of us are super creative in our writing (I mean, minus my AMAZING writing here!) and I'll probably break down and cry and won't even be able to read my own writing, so it's probably just better if I repeat something after someone else. Just saying.)

10. He's as excited about the wedding as you are. Seriously. (Oh, yes, I know this to be a fact.)

#53: Glee!

Ok, this post isn't about Glee. I promise you, J, it's not. When I think musicals now, I think Glee. Awful, I know. But I seriously love this show. Anyways, I was on some wedding related site at work yesterday and came across this proposal video:



I melted watching that video. And in my pool of meltedness (just made up that word), I wondered how much work went into that proposal. Kinda crazy. And how exactly do you meet at Disneyland? Kinda random, if you ask me. I met J at church. Maybe we're just boring?

Then, five minutes after watching it, I realized just how incredibly cheesy it was. But I think that the cheesiness is what makes it so awesome. And her reactions are priceless! Super cute :)

What do you think? Super cute? Super cheesy? A perfect mix of both?

#52: Sweet Sixteen

Tonight my dad and I hung out on the couch, watching NCIS and cracking up at Gibbs and Dinozzo and Abby and Ziva and McGee. We seriously heart NCIS.

Midway into our third episode of the night, I remembered that the little light on my dash went off yesterday, signaling that my tires are low on air. Of course. Darn cold air. My dad is my go-to tire-air-filler. It's just our thing. So off we went, into the cold (which my dad said was not cold, "It was colder when I put up Christmas lights the other night." Yes, my dad puts up Christmas lights in the dark. It's another one of our things. But I digress...) to fill up my tires.  We take the caps off, they go in my pocket, then my dad pulls out the whole cord and gets in position. I put the four quarters in the machine and then take my mark. I hold the cord out (it likes to reel itself back in rather violently) and then lean in with my iPhone. Why, you might ask. Because on one side of my car, it was pitch black and dad couldn't see the gauge. So, because there's an app for everything, I pulled out my iPhone and turned on my LED flashlight app. Darkness: 0, iPhone: 1. We got those puppies filled up in no time, and then I made my dad listen to Mariah Carey's new Christmas song, "Oh Santa!" which he deemed "whiny and two thumbs down" (he literally did two thumbs down). I do like it, but this is my all-time favorite Christmas song:

We then headed off to McDonald's for a soda and a sweet tea (I'll let you guess which one was mine) and on the way home we got to talking. My dad has been telling me for quite awhile that he doesn't know how J and I aren't going crazy yet because we're not married. Yes, we've been together for three and a half years, and yes we'd like to be married right now, but what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right? We really wanted to set a solid foundation, especially financially, for our marriage. So we wait. (And wait and wait...)

Anyways, my dad starts telling me about multiple people (including some family) that got married at 16 (or younger in one case...) and they're all still together. I always told my parents I wanted to get married no earlier than 28. Well, guess what. I'm 23 now and I'll still be 23 in 199 days. So I guess I'm getting married at 23. Just goes to show you, our plans aren't always God's plans. But my dad's stories encouraged me because even though I still feel a little young to be getting married, I guess when you know, you just know it's right. And it's right.

So now I'm going to go read this:

 And hopefully get a little inspiration for some upcoming posts (oh yeah, and for our wedding too!). Make sure you come back tomorrow, I have another cute proposal video for you! You will LOVE this one. I promise.