WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

That's right friends, I'm trading in my last name for another one! Here are the juicy details:

The Proposal

Last Friday night I came home from work, expecting to have a quick bite and then go see We Own The Night with Jon. When I got in, Jon seemed disinterested in the movie and said he got some groceries for us to make dinner. Cooking together is one of our "things" and was actually our first date, back in September of 2005. Well, it was as if the Food Network exploded in our kitchen. The table was covered with fresh ingredients and produce: chicken, risotto, string beans, apple cider, and scallions....all for a Rachael Ray recipe. Also on the counter was a little chocolate devil cake. None of this tipped me off that something was about to happen, so I said something like "This looks great, let me go change into some jeans." With that Jon grabbed my hand and told me to wait a minute, got down on one knee and popped the question! I immediately started repeating "oh my gosh" and we both began to well up with tears (even though he may not admit it). My answer was "OF COURSE!" :)

The Ring

So this ring is huge. It's literally a rock, and I hope you can understand that I'm not trying to brag. I actually feel a little ridiculous wearing a piece of jewelry so large. The ring is so very special to me though because it belonged to my grandmother, who left it to me when she passed away. My grandmother's original engagement ring was a single pearl, so my grandfather purchased the diamond for her years later when he was more financially secure (obviously!). Jon asked my grandfather for his blessing during the summer, and coordinated ring details with my mother. Because my grandmother wore the ring so often, it needed to be reset in a new band, as well as seriously cleaned. The diamond is a marquis cut, set in white gold with one baguette cut diamond on each side. Altogether, it's 1.8 carat....whoa! 

The Plan

So far there really isn't much of a plan in terms of wedding specifics. We're still soaking it in, spreading the good news, and enjoying Cloud 9 :) What we do know is that the wedding will be sometime next fall, preferably late October or early November. Our ideal ceremony would be outdoors and at dusk, so that we could have an evening reception. If I had to pick a theme, I'd tell you "simple elegance with an intimate audience." Oh, and I'd love to have a live jazz band playing Louis Prima songs at the reception but that's kind of a fantasy! 

I also must say that one of the most exciting things about our engagement is how our friends and family react to the news. Every time I tell someone I get that rush of joy all over again as if it just happened. So thank you to those who have shared our excitement and celebration :) :) 

autumn driving

Great moment in global warming: Seeking a store with air conditioning while window shopping...in early October :P

Three day weekends are wonderful. Thank you, Columbus, for giving me Monday off from work. So one of my favorite things to do is take a road trip. I love driving on open, beautiful roads which are aplenty in Pennsylvania. Add some fall scenery and it's even better. Well this weekend I got the chance to do a lot of fall driving throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, made possible by Google maps (gotta love the challenge of not knowing where you're going).



After work on Saturday, I made my way to Watsontown, PA to meet Jon and his family at their house. I made it just in time for an amazing dinner, and we capped off the evening with a cozy campfire outside. His family always knows how to spend true quality time with each other, just shooting the breeze over cups of coffee or a glass of wine. On Sunday I had the privilege of joining them for the annual event, Heritage Days, held at Jon's high school. The event is a great tribute to how their forefathers lived and worked in the 18th century, as there are several demonstrations of early American skills such as making apple butter. The area is also known as Fort Freeland, where a battle took place during the French & Indian War. Not only was there a history lesson of how the battle happened, but there was also a great reenactment.



Early Monday morning I then made my way to Monmouth Beach, NJ, to meet my mother there. We spent our day off together, baking cupcakes in early celebration of her birthday and window shopping at Pier Village (you can hear the ocean from that site!). The weather was abnormally warm for early October but gorgeous nonetheless. Having a condo there at the beach is a huge blessing...it's a peaceful place you can retreat to anytime you want. Luckily it's only 1 1/2 hours from Philly, so the last leg of this weekend's journey was quick and easy :)

nostalgia

Reality TV's best dressed award: Heather from Rock of Love
Most anticipated season premiere: Dexter on Showtime

Tuesday nights have become the new Friday nights for me. Having every Wednesday and Thursday off is my little mid-week weekend, and I now look forward to the beginning of the week. I'm hanging out in my living room, listening to my iTunes on shuffle (Incubus was just on, and I almost forgot how obsessed I used to be with them), and I'm belly-full of Mexican take-out. Life is good.

The fall is always a nostalgic season for me, and I think it has a lot to do with school; starting another year a little bit older and wiser is refreshing and promising. I'm energized by the unknown. Especially in college, every year was so different from the next, like short stories in an anthology. I recently (and finally) organized ALL of my digital pictures into albums on Picasa, mostly broken up by school years. I can't believe how many hairstyles and colors/shades I've tried, and it's kind of ironic that au naturale works best in the end :P

I love sort of "reliving" memories through pictures, and it's amazing how much detail you can remember from one photo. Songs and scents are the same way. Counting Crows will always remind me of Mexico, and Victoria's Secret Strawberries and Champagne will always remind me of Christmas. Why? Because I'm a freak with a weird brain, just like you probably. But what I realized as I organized my photos was that while some friends have come and gone, and some trips will probably never be taken again, I felt good about it. So a lot has changed...it is what it is, and I'm a firm believer in things happening for a reason. I love those memories, but I'm also creating new ones. More photo albums to come.

Well, it's official! I have off from work the Saturday of Homecoming, so I'll be there :) Jon and I are thinking of going pumpkin/apple picking that Sunday, so if you know of a good place to go let me know please. Or better yet, just come along if you can!

a quick update

Most recent guilty pleasure (no judgment please): Perez Hilton...some of his comments are just hilarious.

This past week was perhaps one of the busiest yet. I guess you can say that life here in Philadelphia is in full-swing, and I've established a good routine. As of today at exactly 4:15 p.m. I am a registered, inspected Pennsylvania driver...and let me tell, what a process the transfer was! For the past two weeks, my Wednesdays and Thursdays off from work have been spent on waiting in a tag agency (for the paperwork), a dealership (to fix my power window) and an inspection station (to take my money). The thought of possibly have to do this again in two years is tiring :P

Graduate classes continue to go very well, and on Thursday as I rushed to finish a short research paper I remembered just how cumbersome citations and MLA/APA formats are. LaSalle also requires all papers to be submitted to TurnItIn.com in order to detect plagiarism, so that whole process was new to me. I literally bit my nails as I waited for my results, and luckily only 2% of my paper was recognizable: a quote and my references! Apparently someone was once asked to leave the program because of plagiarism....crazy cakes, the things people do.

In other news, I find it amazing that Britney Spears and Jena 6 share practically equal spots in the headlines...does that seem strange to anyone else? (If you're a Mac user, I highly recommend the MSNBC gadget for your dashboard...oh, and the Chuck Norris quotes gadget too).

Before I sign off for the evening, I just want to congratulate the one and only Rachel M. on her new endeavor. Rachel, if you're reading this, click here to celebrate properly. You deserve it :)

the people i have found

Two-year old moment of the day: Snipping my finger with scissors while cutting open a bag. I think I need to regress to safety scissors.

Driving home from class the other night, I heard Elton John's "Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters" on the radio. Although I'd heard it many times, that was the first time I ever listened to the words. It's one of those songs that immediately makes you feel sentimental and nostalgic...I thought, "You know what, life is good and I'm blessed by amazing people." Cruising home on a surprisingly calm Roosevelt Boulevard, I had a beautiful little moment.

This evening I had a similar moment when I received a card in the mail from dearly-missed friends. I doubt they knew this, but the timing was perfect. Today I was (finally!) officially certified as a teller. What does this mean? Well friends, it means I can have my own drawer/window to run transactions out of, instead of observing others and working out of their drawer. Now I have to work for realsies.

For a moment there I seriously doubted myself and wondered if I was cut out to be a teller, mainly because I was intimidated by the certification process. I got over it, did the best I could and apparently that was enough. I got high fives all around from my coworkers, and great feedback. Coming home to this Flashdance themed card (pictured above), which says "You've got the will. You've got the skill" and sings "What A Feelin'" when opened, brought quite a smile to my face (and warm fuzzies in general). I'm so lucky to have "just because" thoughtful friends.

whatta shame

Movie I can't wait to see: Beowulf...finally, a classic!

I'm currently watching the MTV video music awards, and so far it's just plain terrible. And I'm pretty sure no one knows what's going on, especially the presenters. What have we done to music? And television? I have a running joke with some of my friends that we should pray for celebrities. It all started with the song "4 in the morning" by Gwen Stefani and my comment that the lyrics painted quite a sad picture of unrequited affection....a trend in many of her songs. The conversation then moved on to the big celebrity disappointments (people who started off strong and sadly trashed themselves): Whitney Houston, R. Kelly, Mariah Carey, and the infamous Britney. Don't they all need prayer? I thought so.

summer's end

great moment in nerdom: "The church needs to be like the Jedi Order" - Jon, in response to a conversation about the book "The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical"

So as I do with most things I don't fully understand, I consult Wikipedia. As Michael from The Office says, "Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information.” Well, according to the reliable Wiki, Labor Day is a day of rest for the working man and symbolizes the end of summer. I'm not sure if that first part is true for everyone (especially my dear friends working in higher education) but thankfully it was true for me.

After a very long Friday at the bank, a three-day weekend was certainly welcomed by all. Jon and I made a B line for the Jersey shore to enjoy what was left of our summer since both of our schedules will soon accelerate. We finally saw Superbad (definitely not one for the kids), and hit up Borders for some new books. In the typical English-major fashion, I couldn't resist my affinity for the classics so I purchased an attractive copy of Wuthering Heights. Currently, I'm reading the book mentioned in the above quote, and so far I'm tearing through it. Shane Claiborne is a captivating communicator with a contagious heart for true discipleship; please do yourself a favor and read "The Irresistible Revolution" when you get the chance.

Although lazier days have come to an end, I'm anxious for the full swing of fall. Sometimes I think I'm crazy for signing up for more school and all the work that comes with it, but I secretly love being a student. Ok, not so secretly. Now that I'm a student again, I promise I'll look to more reliable sources than Wikipedia for information ;)