41 Useless Facts about Me

Amie posted a list of interesting facts about herself and asked us to do the same, so I will attempt it. I'll see if I can match her 41.

1. I lived in the same house for the first 17 1/2 years of my life.
2. I have two sisters (26 and 24 years old) and a brother who is 12 years old (I am the oldest at 28).
3. I taught myself to like coffee by beginning with Quik Trip cappuccinos with friends in college.
4. I attended a Christian school from Kindergarten through 9th grade.
5. I was my 8th grade class valedictorian and made a big speech at the ceremony.
6. I was a spelling bee queen growing up - I won multiple area-wide spelling bees for our Christian school association. My family traveled to Indianapolis twice so I could compete in regional spelling bees. (Wow, that sounds like the ultimate in geekiness as I type it out.)
7. I was 15 the first time I flew on an airplane (when Pastor Jim took us on a missions trip to Tijuana, Mexico).
8. My mom and I entered a Mother/Daughter Look-a-Like Contest at the IA State Fair (probably in 1995 or 1996) and finished in 6th place.
9. I graduated from high school a year early and was 17 when I went to college.
10. My mother was an in-home child care provider for a number of my growing up years.
11. My parents seriously contemplated moving to Colorado when I was in elementary school.
12. My parents have 4 siblings between them, and every one of them lives in Des Moines.
13. My sisters and I all graduated from college in Springfield, MO.
14. I lived on-campus for the first two years of college and off-campus for the last two.
15. I traveled with a drama ministry team for all 4 years of my college career.
16. I took high school courses when I was in 8th grade (which, in part, allowed me to graduated from high school a year early). And I still had the highest GPA in my class, enabling me to be the valedictorian. I showed those suckers!
17. My favorite birthday dinner when I was growing up was "roast beef heaven" - a slice of bread with roast beef on top and mashed potatoes and gravy on that. I think it's called an open-faced roast beef sandwich, but I like "roast beef heaven" myself.
18. My mom made most of our clothes growing up; the plus was getting to "design" your own things, choose the color, fabric, etc. The negative was having homemade clothes all the time; I think it seems worse now than it did then. Until about 6th grade, anyway.
19. I never went to a single dance in high school - not even prom!
20. I competed in the regional Music With a Purpose one year in piano solo, so I had to have the piece memorized. I was on the last "page" in my head and I blanked and had to stop. One of my most embarrassing moments ever.
21. I worked at Long John Silver's for over 3 years and returned for Christmas and summer breaks after I went to college.
22. I was the fastest drive-thru worker and cashier ever - I always figured out the change in my head before the register even told me.
23. I spilled blazing hot mop water on my foot at LJS on the same day I bought my new Ford Probe GT.
24. I have read almost every Nancy Drew, Baby-Sitters Club, Sweet Valley Twins, and Sweet Valley High book ever written through 1993.
25. I used to sneak a flashlight in my room to read after bedtime.
26. We used to have a bowl of cereal before bed most nights as kids.
27. I have never broken a bone or been hospitalized overnight.
28. I hated NASCAR all through high school.
29. I painted with my dad once to earn some money.
30. My parents have a garage that has never housed a running car.
31. I started Weight Watchers in September of 2003 and lost about 60 pounds in one year.
32. I CLEPped out of 12 hours in college course credit - practically a full semester!
33. I woke up every Christmas morning of my entire 28 years in my parent's house (the home in which I grew up) until last year.
34. My parents switched churches when I was 10 years old so that we could attend a strong youth group with a good youth pastor. (If they had not done so, I would not have met Jim and Sharon...would not have gone to the college I did...who knows from there what would have happened?)
35. I led worship at the Assemblies of God Headquarters chapel service twice. (About 700 people attended each week, including department heads and the Board of Administration; talk about intimidating!)
36. I took two conducting courses in college and have the knowledge and ability to conduct a choir (which I love doing, by the way).
37. I chose my major at Central Bible College (Administration of Christian Education) at least 50% because it was one of the few majors that did not require Homiletics II (writing sermons and preaching in front of the class and professor for a grade).
38. I am left-handed.
39. The extent of my sports career was one year of volleyball in 7th grade.
40. My father was my first and only piano teacher (other than the one semester of lessons I took as a college freshman - that pretty much ended when she told me I had to keep my nails really short).
41. I once took an unofficial IQ test and scored a 132.

Is that it? I did it? Wow. Once you start thinking of stuff, it just flows I guess. Okay. I hope that was worth your time.

Oh, one more.

42. I know how to swing a hammer.

Our first February 18

My first Valentine's Day with Matt was spent feeling quite ill, eating a bland grilled chicken breast, and watching "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." However, our actual Valentine's Day celebration (February 18) was phenomenal. I bought a tablecloth, napkins, placemats, and even dinner and dessert plates that all matched at Target. Have I mentioned that store rocks my world? So I set our table, put up red and white Christmas lights, lit a bunch of candles, and set up a frame with a bunch of pictures of us.

I made brownies from scratch with peanut butter chips in lieu of the walnuts (did you know they're so much better than boxed ones?) and chicken fettuccine alfredo with cheesy garlic bread. Matt doesn't drink any kind of fruit juice but orange and doesn't like sparkling ones, so we had Hawaiian Punch in our cute wine glasses. I have to say, the food went over well. We ate the leftovers for two days.

Matt planned the remainder of the evening, so we headed upstairs. I heard much banging around when I was downstairs cooking, so I was curious as to what he had done. The picture above shows the winter scene he created - a 3-dimensional fireplace with real wood, red tissue paper, and a heater fan blowing behind it. We sat on the fuzzy blanket and played checkers. Not just regular checkers, though - that would be too easy for my baby. If you jumped someone's checker, you looked on the bottom and they had to do whatever it said. For example, I sang the national anthem. And yes, I know all the words (NASCAR's good for so many different things). Matt acted out a movie scene. I did the robot (not well). Matt acted like a monkey. It was the most entertaining game of checkers I have ever played. I was smoking him until the end...do I have to admit that he won? Grrr.

He also printed off some dating disaster stories and read them to me. It was overall such a great night. One of my favorite dates (so far). I am so grateful that I have such a creative man - sometimes it's maddening, but it's good for fun, new romantic ideas!

37 DAYS!!

Back in Business

Being sick took about 5 days out of my wedding planning time. And now we have 40 DAYS TO GO, people! I thought I was doing well, but I'm not sure anymore. Making all the big decisions early (reception, cake, attendants, etc.) feels good and makes you feel that you've accomplished a lot, but as time goes on I realize that the details will be the time-consuming, insane part of this. Things just float around in my head all the time -

Why can't I find the matching flower girl basket for the ring bearer pillow I bought? Will Hobby Lobby ever have it or will I have to pick out something else?

Will I be able to find enough guys to help move and set up all the chairs and tables at our house? What about setting up chairs at the church? Do people really want to help with stuff like this or are they just saying it to be nice?

Do the bridesmaids have to carry flowers? Do the groomsmen have to wear boutonnieres? What if I don't want either?

When am I going to take in the deposit for the cake?

Is it possible to find shoes that are cute, comfortable, and not over $50?

These are the few questions that currently popped into my head...I understand now why people hire wedding coordinators. Someone needs to know what they're doing, and I don't often feel like that someone is me. I do know that it will all work out - everyone I've asked to help with anything has been very kind and more than willing. I just have to figure out what needs to be done! :-) So, we're moving on past the sickness and getting on with life as a bride. By the way, I don't know if I actually lost weight from being sick, but things are fitting looser, which rocks. Seriously.

Wedding Stuff

I don't even know what to write today. A week is just too long to not have a new blog. We went to do some wedding registry stuff for the past 2 weekends, and it has been pretty fun for the most part. At Bed, Bath, and Beyond, they told us that you should register for 2-3 gifts per guest. I don't know if that includes children (since we will likely have the highest percentage of children at our wedding than anyone...anywhere...ever). But we are guesstimating at anywhere from 300-400 people for the ceremony. So, is he telling me that we have to pick out anywhere from 600-1,200 registry items? We are somewhere around 250 now, I believe. I know I won't be able to get Matt to care long enough to pick that many more things. They said that people like choices, though, so we need to have enough things that they can have a good selection. So we'll just have to keep checking it and add as we go along. We haven't fought about any of the choices yet, either, so I'd say we're doing pretty well. 51 days to go!!

My Jesus

My blog today is not complicated. Because I can only do simple today. Have you ever had a day where nothing on earth got you through except knowing that Jesus was there? I have certain songs I will listen to on repeat for an entire day just to remind that Jesus is there, and He loves me. Here are the lyrics from today's song of choice, "What a Friend I've Found":

What a friend I've found,
Closer than a brother.
I have felt Your touch,
More intimate than lovers.

Jesus, Jesus
Jesus, friend forever.

What a hope I've found,
More faithful than a mother.
It would break my heart
To ever lose each other.

Jesus, Jesus
Jesus, friend forever.

The simplicity speaks to me today. And on some days, simply saying Jesus over and over is all we can do. So I will. And be so thankful for the hope I have in Him.

More obsessed than even I knew...

Your Musical Tastes Match: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

See his whole playlist here (iTunes required)

What Celebrity Matches Your Taste in Music?

I was just going to do this to see the results, but when I saw what I ended up with, I knew it was too good not to be posted. What did I say that was THAT redneck? I don't know, but this is funny. Dale Earnhardt Jr. At least I don't hate him. Matt, don't say a WORD about the kind of car he drives...this is only about music. I should go check out his playlist now.

Video Game Queen

For being a girl, I'm pretty good at video games. I think it's all the piano that gives me good hand-eye coordination. So today we ate lunch at the OP, and they have a Ms. Pac-Man video game. I played 4 times, and the one time I played 2-player against Bill, I beat the Hi-Score by about 2,000 points!! It must be the competition that brings it out in me. People must not play that game too much because I beat it about the third time through. That's not much warming up. But I was feeling pretty good about it. So I figured I would share it with all of you.

Last night, I listened to Chris Rice's "Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)" at least 30 times on repeat. Have you heard that song? It's amazing. What a reminder that no matter what season we are in life, it all comes back to Jesus.

One more thing - we started our wedding registry this weekend at Bed, Bath & Beyond. We picked out a formal china pattern that is so amazing; I absolutely love it. It was $29.99 a place setting, so I was happy with the price, too. So when I looked up our registry on their website yesterday, it came up at $14.99!! I was so shocked; I called my mom immediately, remembering that she wanted to buy our china for us. Apparently if you find it in a store, it will ring up at that price, but if they have to order it in from the manufacturer, they will charge $29.99 plus shipping. This is the best part for the bargain shopper in me - to now call to every BB&B known to man with a Fine China department and see if I can hunt down 12 place settings. If you clicked on the link, you'll see that Dillard's charges $80 per place setting, so the $30 is a great price itself. But the $14.99 is too much to pass up. I don't know how much luck we'll have, but it sure will be fun to try!

Chalk One Up for My Baby

I wanted everyone (who has time) to check out what Matt wrote in response to a blog I read regarding abortion/war/the death penalty all rolled into one. I get really emotional about these issues and can have a difficult time clearly stating why I believe what I do, but he did an amazing job of clarifying the core issue in these situations, which is that evil exists, and God desires that we do our best to protect the INNOCENT, whether that be through outlawing abortion or warring against those who make it their business to take innocent lives. That's my really short summary, but he does a superb job of outlining the points in a clear, concise way. Excellent, honey. I'm by far your biggest fan.

Birth Order

You Are Likely an Only Child

At your darkest moments, you feel frustrated. At work and school, you do best when you're organizing. When you love someone, you tend to worry about them. In friendship, you are emotional and sympathetic. Your ideal careers are: radio announcer, finance, teaching, ministry, and management. You will leave your mark on the world with organizational leadership, maybe as the author of self-help books.

The Birth Order Predictor

I'm not an only child, but the rest of this is fairly accurate. Bizarre. Sometimes firstborn children and only children can have similar characteristics, so I will cut them some slack.

My Birthday #2

I need to finish my birthday list since I only had 16 out of 28 items. So here is the conclusion:
17. Latin ladies - the beautiful roses my baby gave me for my birthday. The picture doesn't do them justice; they are light pink on the outside and dark pink/red on the inside. Insanely beautiful.
18. New shirt - I bought a new shirt at Target the week before, and it is always fun to wear something new.
19. Matt's present - could I have a more creative man? He checked into buying me a few shares of stock in ISC (International Speedway Corporation). It's the company owned by the people who founded NASCAR, and they own about half the tracks they race on each week. He even asked me first, though, to make sure I would want that. How thoughtful is he? Does he realize how high he is setting the bar for the rest of his life? :-)
20. Shopping - I bought a few things at Old Navy that were 50% off the clearance price. And Matt even stayed by the dressing room to watch me try on clothes (after I begged). It was fun, though - I like to know if he likes something or not. He generally does like what I pick out, but it was still fun to put on a little fashion show. I liked it. I hope it wasn't too torturous for him.
21. More shopping - I went to the mall with my Mom; she bought me something for the wedding night, I bought a couple more things at, um, that store; I bought a shirt I had loved a few months ago when it was new at Limited (got it for $9.99, thank you very much, regularly $60) and two other tops for $6.99.
22. Cookies - we had cookies for a snack since we weren't hungry enough for lunch. Yum
23. Dinner - my grandparents and two aunts/uncles showed up for dinner. That was really fun; we showed them our engagement pictures and pictures of my flowers from that morning.
24. Dinner again - the shake was amazing - chocolate espresso. Oh. My. Word.
25. Phone calls - my friend Christy called at 8:30 a.m. - first person I talked to. Then my sisters both called in the afternoon. Maggie called. Leann called. It was nice to know that they all remembered me and took the time to call.
26. Cards - I had my Mom and Dad's card to read, Vern and Cyndi's, and Tyler's when I woke up that morning. But by far the best was Matt's. He made a little drawing even though his hand was impaired. But what he wrote was amazing, and I've read it multiple times every day since then. I carry it around with me so I can read it whenever I want. I'm blessed to have a man who is so eloquent with words, especially since I am one who appreciates that gift very much.
27. Driving - We had over 4 hours in the car during the trip to Des Moines and back. But it was good time to be able to talk, especially about the books we're reading for pre-marital counseling. I always appreciate deep, insightful conversation, and the books give us those things to dialogue about. So I enjoyed that time with Matt very much.
28. Overall - I have for years marked my birthday with some thought of, "Another year goes down in the record books, and I'm still single." And with some bit of wondering if this will be the year that will change. And this one was. So I was (and am) incredibly grateful to have Matt to share the day with. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do that day because I have high expectations for birthdays, but I had come to the conclusion that it didn't matter what we did as long as I got to spend it with Matt. And it was wonderful and special. I could not be more grateful for the man God has blessed me with this year. What an amazing 28th year of life it was. I am so excited to see what the next one holds.

Okay, I'll do it.

Hannah tagged me specifically, so I'll go for this one.


Four jobs you had in your life.

1. Long John Silver's. I was good - I didn't even need the cash register to tell me how much change to give people. I loved almost everything except the skanky guys ogling you in the drive through.

2. Dillard's. I loved working in the home department - towels, bedding, place settings, pots and pans...it was all so wonderful.

3. Administrative Assistant to the National Youth Director, Assemblies of God Headquarters, Springfield, MO. Much fun and much stress. I made amazing friends through this job and learned many great skills. And it was fun to walk around at big youth conventions and feel all important with the radio clipped on my belt and headset on my head. Yeah, we thought we were so bad.

4. Children's Pastor. Best job - I just got a note on Wednesday that reads, "Roses are red, violets are blue; Open Bible rocks and so do you." Does it get any better than that? Kids loving church and seeing the love of Jesus in me. Amazing.

Four movies you could watch over and over.

1. Raising Helen. So great, and I love the 3 sisters!

2. You've Got Mail. I watched part of it on TBS last night!

3. White Christmas.

4. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Four places you've lived.

1. Des Moines, IA. I lived in the same house for my first 17 1/2 years of life.

2. CBC campus, Springfield, MO. I'm glad I lived on campus for two years - it helped me to feel connected, make friends more quickly, and enjoy the craziness of late night card games and shaving cream fights on campus. (I know you're thinking, "Those psycho Bible college students; what will they think of next?")

3. Lake Shore Apartments, Springfield, MO. One of my 3 apartment dwellings in Springfield and the nicest and newest by far. We had a poolside apartment (yeah, it ruled). They had a hot tub and workout room, too! And the last time I had a dishwasher.

4. Waverly, IA. My home for almost 4 years.

Four TV shows you love to watch.

I do not really watch TV very much anymore. I'll watch reruns or DVDs of these:

1. Friends

2. King of Queens

3. Alias

4. What Not to Wear (hardly ever catch it, but it's great)

Four places you've been on vacation.

1. Indianapolis, IN.

2. Seattle, WA.

3. Washington, D.C.

4. New York, NY. (#3 and #4 in the same year!)

Four websites you visit daily.

1. www.nascar.com

2. www.google.com

3. My friend's blogs (listed on the sidebar)

4. Maybe not every day, but www.theknot.com

Four of your favorite foods

1. Monkey bread

2. Papa John's or Casey's pizza

3. Grandma's corn casserole

4. My chicken enchiladas

Four places you'd rather be right now

1. On our honeymoon in Cancun!

2. Seeing my sisters in Springfield.

3. Seeing Maggie in Eugene!

4. With Matt. Always.

Four bloggers you are tagging

1. Natalie

2. Shawn (he won't even see this, so why not?)

3. Amy Carson (come on girl, you can do it!)

4. Anyone else who reads this and hasn't done it yet

My Birthday

I just got on Tina for not blogging this week, and then I realized I haven't blogged since Saturday. What a slacker am I. So I guess I'll follow Heather's lead and write 28 things about my 28th birthday (even though it's tomorrow and hasn't happened yet):

1. It's a Saturday! Yeah!
2. I get to see my parents and Tyler.
3. The last time I saw my parents on my birthday, they drove to Springfield, and surprised me when I was playing piano in chapel! I saw my little brother running in the lobby, and I knew it was him! I started crying right there on the stage. I was sick that day, but it was so cool that they drove SIX HOURS to surprise me. Wow.
4. We're driving to Des Moines for the day.
5. I think I'm making monkey bread for breakfast. Although I am debating now on whether or not to stop at Panera for coffee and pastries instead. Yum.
6. The only wedding thing I want to do all day: make the decision on where we will register. We have to get that figured out!
7. I HOPE I get my birthday card from my mom in the mail today (she sent it Wednesday).
8. For two years now, I have saved any early birthday cards I received and opened them in the morning when I woke up. It's a great way to start the day, especially when you live by yourself.
9. I am going to Jordan Creek to shop!
10. Maggie called me last night and said Old Navy has half off all the clearance prices, so I hope I can get Matt to come watch me try on clothes. It IS my birthday, after all.
11. Probably one way or the other, we will get to stop at the new gas station on the Eldora exit off I-35 and use the ballistic hand dryers. They rule. It's a Kum-n-Go - I want to say Exit 133.
12. My Grandma sent me $20 this week and a card in her barely legible British handwriting. So cute.
13. This is my last birthday before I get married!
14. I usually have a few friends who remember, so I'll look forward to talking to a few of them tomorrow.
15. Heth's right - this is a lot of things to think of. Maybe I should have waited until AFTER the birthday. Hmmm. I'm halfway through now...
16. I get to spend it with Matt. This will be my first birthday with a "special friend." Ha ha...seriously, never had a boyfriend for a birthday, and now I get a fiance and get to spend the WHOLE day with him. That is SO super-duper cool!

Okay, here's the plan. I will continue the list tomorrow since I highly doubt I'll be able to come up with 12 more (relevant) items today. But it's a start.

And since there were some questions, here is the picture from my birthday one year ago. The fun never ends when a cop's around...

Nice to meet you, I'm Ms. Pigpen

Isn't that the name of the gross, dirty boy from Charlie Brown? If it is, then I should be his sister. I just read Tina's new post, and it reminds me of the current state of my living quarters. I, like her, am not sure why I'm choosing to admit it, but my house (apartment, whatever it is) has been for at least one month in a perpetual state of disarray. I understand that most of you reading this have children, quite possibly multiple numbers of them. You are saying to yourself, "How does one single woman make much of a mess? It's just not possible." Oh, my friends, it is. I don't feel like going home and actually taking the pictures, but let me just say that I live in a pig sty at the moment.

When I walk in the door from work, the options facing me each night (that I don't have other plans) are as follows:
a. plan a wedding
b. read books for pre-marital counseling
c. work out to lose those stinkin' 5 (okay, 10) pounds before the wedding
d. clean the house

Guess what wins? Usually (a) or (b), occasionally (c). Never (d). So I live with bridal magazines, wedding planners, bills, and pictures covering the kitchen table; a box of invitation paper and more pictures on the stove; pre-marital counseling books, a couple's memory book, and yet more pictures on the coffee table; a bunch of wedding flowers, frames, and more invitation supplies strewn about the kitchen floor; a kitchen sink full of every bowl I own and other cups and flatware. And every other surface available is covered with random items that I cannot currently think of but drive me absolutely crazy. The Christmas decorations are still up, which adds to the chaos and clutter. I believe I am resigning myself to the fact that there will be little progress made to remedy this state of chaos until...well, I'm not sure. We return from the honeymoon on April 9, so...maybe April 10? 11? I don't know. I will have to move out at some point, and I will need to clean the place when I do so. It would be nice to have some of it accomplished before then. But for now, I must stop thinking about this or my head will explode.

The Horse Sale Stinks

I'm so bummed - I just found out that the Horse Sale is the same weekend as our wedding, which will make it nearly impossible to get a hotel block for our out-of-town guests here in Waverly. Grrr...I need to get on the horn and call about a room block in Cedar Falls before I'm out of luck there, too. I really don't want people to have to stay at the Star Motel.

I gave my blog to some friends tonight, so if you're reading this, hi to Hannah, Marissa, Kasey, and Camille! :-) Love you girls.

Hannah is awesome!

Hannah took some engagement pictures for us on Sunday. I wish I could post them all because they turned out great, but I can't. So here's a cute one - pretty natural-looking. I wouldn't mind cropping it down to our faces and using it for the "engagement" photo if we put one in the paper. There are a lot of good ones, so thanks so much, Hannah!! I'll be sending you a CD of them as soon as I get your address.

Just stuff

I suppose the wedding preparations are now in full swing. It's pretty insane, but I'm getting some big decisions made, so that's a relief. Big announcement: the colors are hot pink and silver!! Yeah - I am SO excited. I did a mock-up invitation today, so I think I'll be ordering the components tomorrow. Picked out fabric for the bridesmaid's dresses and the pattern as well.

Today was amusing - at the dentist's office, I mentioned to the dental hygienist that I was tired. She asked if the holidays were busy, and I said that they were and that I am also planning a wedding. She immediately asked a million questions - where is it, when is it, what colors, where's the reception, and so on. She's been married for 6 years, so it wasn't as though she was living vicariously. It just seems that whenever the word "wedding" is mentioned to a woman, she responds with such enthusiasm and gusto it's as though she's asking about her best friend's wedding or something. We are so enamored with weddings and everything surrounding them - it all comes back to that desire in the heart of every woman to be someone's princess, to be lovely. I tell you what, I could find something in every day of my life that brings me back to Captivating. The relevance of it never ceases to amaze me.

So that's it. Sorry if my blogging is inconsistent - I hope you'll give me some grace as I try to balance all the areas of my changing life and still remain a member of our lovely blogging world. Glad to see I made the cut on Heather's links. He he...I just had to throw that in there if only to amuse myself.

Reflections

Heather posted this, and I figured it would be a good way to not think about the wedding for 10 minutes, so I'll give it a try.

1. What did you do in 2005 that you had never done before?
My first kiss comes to mind...I fell in love...everything related to that was a first for me. I also preached my first sermon here (not ever, but here in Waverly).

2.Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't recall making any, so that works. Mine for right now is to lose 5 or 10 pounds before the wedding. I'm not worried about pulling it off - Lord, please let the birth control not sabotage my efforts!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Mandee and Heather are two I can think of right now.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not close to me - Matt's grandmother and Ivan and Evelyn Epley are the three I can remember from last year.

5. What countries did you visit?
No new ones - some fun trips, though!

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
How about a husband?

7. What dates will remain etched in your memory and why?
Too many to count, but I'll try to remember as many as I can.
January 21, because my birthday was very fun.
May 15 - I had a kidney stone.
May 22 - Matt and I went to coffee and hung out for the first time.
July 4 - Our first REAL date
July 18 - My first kiss! (Sorry if that's too much information, but I won't be forgetting that one!)
October 1 - My sister Beth's wedding
October 14-17 - Our trip to New York
December 10 - Our engagement day!

So many other great memories, but I'll leave it at that for now.

8. What's your biggest achievement of the year?
I was pretty proud of children's ministries training sessions we held in April. Public speaking has been a fear of mine, but I felt that I learned a lot through that experience and made some headway in feeling more confident at speaking in front of other people.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I can't think of anything I really bombed at. And if I do, I'm not totally sure I'll tell you.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I'm generally fairly healthy - the kidney stone came out of nowhere. But it would definitely fit in this category.

11.What was the best thing you bought?
I could say clothes (too many to specify). Maybe my wedding dress. But I really enjoyed buying the corner shelf for Matt's new house and surprising him when I gave it to him. And shopping for his Christmas presents.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Our staff came through the pastoral transition closer than we were before - that was quite a feat, and God was so good to us through it all. I am proud of every one of my fellow ministers alongside whom I am so privileged to work.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and disgusted?
Can I just say Democrats in general? And the many celebrities who exhibit such a lack of wisdom at character that it is quite appalling...

14. Where did most of your money go?
Clothes...bills...all that jazz.

15. What did you get really, really excited about?
Getting engaged more than anything else. But also about going to New York, Christmas in general, and all the fun things about dating Matt.

16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
I am so music-oriented that it would be impossible to choose one song for the many moments of 2005. I could list a few, but it would become a mile-long playlist, so I won't even start.

17. Compared to this time last year are you?
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) fatter or thinner? I think I weigh 5 pounds more or so...not sure. I'm better off not to check.
c) richer or poorer? richer in many ways

18. What do you wish you had done more of?
Loving, forgiving, hugging, sharing, trusting.

19. What do you wish you had done less of?
Worrying or stressing.

20. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
I spent it working on wedding stuff, cleaning around the house, having dinner with Matt and Bill and Natalie, and hanging out with some band-related people.

21. Did you fall in love in 2005?
Absolutely.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
I'm not sure on this - maybe "King of Queens."

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I hope not.

24. What was the best book you read?
I've read a bunch of great relationship books, but above all, Captivating was the most impacting book I read.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
It might be Queen if you can believe it.

26. What did you want and get?
I wanted someone to love, and God brought him.

27. What did you not want and not get?
Umm, bird flu?

28. What was your favorite film this year?
I don't know, honestly. Was "The Phantom of the Opera" this year? I want to say it was; if so, then that for sure.

29. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
Worked, ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse with my dear friends, and had coffee and dessert at Bil and Natalie's. And was handcuffed by a policeman for the first time in my life. I was 27.

30. What one thing would have made your year measurably more satisfying?
Trusting God more and worrying less would always make life more satisfying for me. But not much else - it was a pretty amazing year.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion in 2005?
Maybe...clearance chic?

32. What kept you sane?
My relationship with God, my friends, and Matt

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I read Karen Hughes' book - that's the only public figure I can think of that really fascinated me (in a good way at least).

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Immigration gets me going...and always abortion.

35. Who did you miss?
Maggie. My sisters. My parents and Tyler. My Ethe.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Does Matt count? Do I have a one-track mind or what?

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005.
God has once again proven Himself faithful, and I learn it more every single year. This one was no exception.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime;
Say the word and I will follow you.
Share each day with me, each night, each morning;
Say you love me.
Love me, that's all I ask of you."

That's it - like Heth, I'm tagging everyone who is reading this, so join in if you want to. It's a nice opportunity to reflect on a year before starting into the next one. Happy new year to all.

April 1, 2006

Burn it into your brain because that's it!! It's our wedding date!! YEAH! I am so excited. I also found out that it is the same date as Jeremy and Mandee's anniversary and Pastor Ken and Nadine's anniversary, so at that point I really knew it was the right day. As a side note, Matt wrote his version of the proposal story. (Mine was long, but his much longer - and you thought I was the wordy one). Tomorrow we are driving to Minneapolis to see "The Christmas Carol." Our first Christmas season together has been and will be one of many memories, that's for sure.

What a rock!

Pictures!! YEAH!! Here they are!

The Long-Awaited Day

If you saw me today, you know I'm on cloud 999, but I'm getting tired, so I will not write much of an intro here. Here is our engagement story from Saturday, December 10, 2005. By the way, if you know me, you know that I'm pretty observant, so I did have some thoughts that maybe this would be the day he would ask me to marry him - but still worked hard to not expect it :-). Galena, Illinois was the site of our first real date on July 4 this year, and we have really enjoyed visiting a few times since then as well.

Matt called and said he would be over to pick me up at 10:30 a.m. I said I would make monkey bread for breakfast, so I threw it together and put it in to be done about 10:30. He didn’t end up getting there until 11:00. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, so he really threw me off with his low-key demeanor and dress that morning. We drove to Galena and arrived at about 1:30. A few of the bed and breakfasts in town were hosting an open house, so we toured their main areas and saw some of the rooms. They were all built in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, so they have interesting architecture which we both enjoy. At the last B&B, the hostess asked about our plans for the evening. Matt said that we were going to look at the windows and then have dinner. She asked if we had a reservation, and he said no. She said, “On a Saturday night?” So when we left, I asked him if we should call and make a reservation just in case. He said that he figured it was no big deal – last time, we got in on a Saturday with no problem, so we’d be fine. I bought it, so we drove back to Main Street to check out their living windows displays. Considering that Waverly has a pretty awesome living windows Christmas display each year, this was quite elementary to say the least. So we enjoyed making fun of them, but we did admire the real garland and bows adorning many of the shop windows. It was really beautiful.

We stopped at a coffee shop to warm up and sit for a while. When we were getting ready to leave, he mentioned that while I had run to the bathroom, he called and made us a reservation for 8:00 (this was at around 5:30 or so). I just figured they were pretty busy and couldn’t get us in any sooner. So we continued to walk and stopped in a few shops. At one point, we were quite near the restaurant (it was about 6:30), and I thought about asking him to see if they could get us in any sooner, but I decided to just let it go. We went to a SECOND coffee shop from there to kill some more time. Finally at 7:45 or so, we went to the restaurant. This, by the way, is the only restaurant at which we have ever dined in Galena. We absolutely love it, and they have a room that is lowered a few steps from the main level when you walk in. It has stone walls and vines all around the top, and we both really like it and think it would be a very cool dining room someday. So when we walked in, she said that Matt had requested the “dungeon.” I knew she meant that room, so I was excited since we had never been able to eat in there before. There are only two tables there, and the other was empty.

Matt said he was cold and kept his coat on, and we ordered our food. When the bread and salad came, he said he was going to run to the restroom. I figured I would wait until he returned before I started eating, so I did. I waited. And waited. And waited. They seated another couple at the other table, and I’m sitting there alone with salad and bread and not touching any of it. The server walked by and asked if everything was okay – I said yes. He came back again with our dinner and asked if he should bring it back later. I said to leave it; that was fine. I didn’t have my watch and my phone died, so I have no idea how much time really passed, but it had to be about 20 minutes or so. I was feeling really silly in this little room by myself with the other couple. It took so long that I started to wonder what was going on, but I just didn’t want to let myself think anything. But I hoped that at least something cool was happening because our food was going to be cold either way. Finally…Matt came down the stairs – a vase with a dozen red roses in hand, clad in a 3-piece tuxedo (red vest, of course), and a blue box with a white ribbon in the other hand. He sat the flowers on the table and bent down on his knee. He asked me if I would be his wife. I said I had to call Jim first…just KIDDDING!! I said YES! I was quite teary-eyed and couldn’t say much else – I heard the woman at the other table say, “Oh, I’m going to cry!” They clapped when I said yes, too. That was cute. He handed me the box, but I was shaking and having a time getting the ribbon off. I asked him to do it, but he was shaking, too. We managed to get the ring out, and it is unbelievable. We’ll have to get some close-ups soon because it is so gorgeous. I seriously cannot stop staring at it. Since I don’t have a picture right now, I’ll tell you that it’s a .75-carat princess cut center stone with six diamonds in the band on each side (I think he said they are pave diamonds - he is far more diamond-literate than I - it's so cute). It’s so much more beautiful than that even sounds, though – it has detailing on the sides…oh, you’ll just have to see the picture. Or better yet, see me!!

Okay, so then he sat down at his seat. I looked at my plate and said, “I can’t eat anything!” I had totally lost my appetite and was fighting back the tears. So he ate some and told me about how he had planned it all. He was late that morning because he had picked up the roses and the florist told him that if he kept them in the trunk all day in the cold, they would die. So he stopped at Wal-Mart to buy a cooler and stuck them inside it. Then he had to exchange his vest at the rental place, so that all put him half an hour late. The reason our dinner reservation wasn’t until 8:00 was because he had arranged a carriage ride at 6:00, but they cancelled all the carriages because of the weather. But to replace the carriage ride, he arranged for a limo to pick us up at the restaurant at 9:00, and we rode around and looked at Christmas lights for an hour. And not just any limo – a sweet, new Lincoln Towncar limo that seated about 10-12 people with fiberoptic lighting in the ceiling inside. It was so “wicked awesome” as Matt would say.

So we were done at 10:00 and proceeded to drive home. I finally was getting hungry, so he got me a hamburger at Burger King. I talked on the phone most of the way home – my parents, both sisters, his sister, Mandy, and his parents, Jim and Sharon, a message for Bill and Natalie, and Cindy. I asked him if it was okay for me to talk on the phone the whole ride – I think it’s generally pretty rude, but in this situation, he said it was fine. He liked hearing me tell the story to everyone. J So, we arrived in Waverly at around 1:00 a.m. I will have to post my Sunday fun later because I am getting very tired and once again, have not eaten dinner yet. But I am pretty sure I’m the happiest girl in the world today, and I wanted to share it with all of you. I wish I could see you, hug you, laugh and scream with you, and tell you in person, but since it doesn’t always work out that way, I figured this would be a good way to spread the news. Our news – we’re engaged! So, from the soon-to-be-Mrs. Matt Gidley, I love you and thank you all for sharing in my joy. It’s a fuller life for having each of you in it. Thank you for loving and supporting us. And to Matt...I love you. I cannot wait to be your wife.