Rest...finally

I'm not really great at resting. Things have to literally STOP for me to rest. That's why my best rest comes during vacation time - spring break, winter break, summer break. All well and good...normally.

Except that the past two summers have been mostly full of school. (I love school! But it's not resting.) And this August, when I got back, I dove into wedding planning. (I love planning my wedding! But it's also not resting.)

Sometimes, God needs to whack me on the head to get me to stop. Sometimes, I won't stop until He REALLY whacks me on the head - or the whole body, if need be.

So, He did that.

Came home after a relatively normal day at work Monday, sat on the couch, and developed a 101 degree fever in a few hours. I haven't had a fever since I had my appendix out - which, last I remembered, required a trip to the hospital. Apparently, this was serious.

Went to the doctor on Tuesday, and he told me I had a sinus infection. No big - I get them every year, usually 2 or 3 times. But this doctor said, "Don't go back to work until Monday."

Monday???

"But I have concerts...But I have this string teacher in-service thing...But I'm meeting with some other teachers to do thus-and-so...but I have to work out...but...but...but..."

Nope.

Time for me to relax, chill, watch television, movies, and whatever. Time to get pampered by my oh-so-amazing fiancee, who has cooked for me, ran errands, cleaned up, washed dishes, done laundry, and in general stayed by my side so that I didn't have to do anything.

And I am sick. I'm really sick. Sickest I've been in a long time.

But I needed this rest. So I am okay with missing four days of work. Even though I have NEVER missed that much work in a row.

I needed this.

So...

thanks, God.

Pumpkins!

How about a happy post for a change?

(not that my life has miraculously solved itself and gotten totally stress-free. Actually, I may not have a job next year. Yeah. Add THAT to the wedding stress and general sense of "I'm so tired I can't see straight, whose idea was it to go to Michigan for 2 months and write three 20 page papers?" But, that is for a later post. Prayers are always appreciated, though!

So, Kevin and I decided to carve pumpkins last Friday. I insisted that we could not use normal knives for this task - we needed special pumpkin carving knives! When we found those knives at Stater Bros, they also came with those books, with the patterns in them. I have never tried that, and given that my general pumpkin-carving skills are subpar at best, decided, "Why not?"

After Kevin broke the knives, and had to go get NEW knives - 4 sets, to be exact, because hey, we don't want any more breaking! - we ended up with some pretty rad pumpkins. The best I have ever carved, to be exact!

This one is mine.

Hmm, guess I can't put pictures of Kevin's. Well, mine was more awesome, anyway. :) Just kidding, his was sort of a "flaming pumpkin face" thing. Pretty sweet.

They rotted 3 days later. But that is okay - it was still a blast!

Nice to go back and do random childhood stuff.

I miss you all.

Some randomness

...cause that's what my life is like, right now.

This whole "becoming one" thing is a lot more difficult than I thought.

As is wedding planning. All those crazy brides make more sense now.

However, we do have all our major vendors. Next up is invitations. Whoo. At least making the guest list with the parents wasn't a big deal - no stress there.

I love my ring - especially since the stone is from his family. Legacy, heritage, so neat!

It surprises me to hear that I am the subject of much gossip. Makes me regret all the gossip I have spread in my life - and also makes me hope I will resist the next time. Gossip, however, is a particularly "tasty sin," to use the words of a pastor-on-tape. Still...it's odd to be the subject of gossip.

I miss Michigan, and my Michigander friends.

I feel bad because people call me, and I never call them back. :(

I love my fiance!

In 6 months and 5 days, this insanity will be over, and I'll be in Napa, in a cottage, enjoying in-house massages, breakfast pastries delivered to our door, and bike rides to numerous vineyards. Ahhhhh...can I be there now?

So many life changes, all at once. It makes the reasoning behind getting married quickly even more understood - even if you all don't understand it.

I love you all, and I know you don't get me all the time. But that's not my problem.

Kids are crazy.

Kevin is great.

Sleep is amazing. :)

I just have to brag

Okay, so I'm not even sure that anyone reads this anymore, but hey, I can shout out stuff into cyberspace, right? That's my perogative as a blogger. :)

So, this morning, I had a little freak out about the wedding planning stuff. Nothing major - just feeling like I'm not getting my stuff done. We haven't settled on a photographer yet, and yeah, it is the big thing for this month. And we have to do guest lists and invitations and all this stuff...

Anyway, I snapped at my fiance, who was coming over later today. I didn't mean to, but yeah.

After apologizing, I then asked him to do a couple of errands for me. Random stuff - dry cleaning, picking up some random stuff at Home Depot for me, library...blah blah blah. Kevin agreed to do all of these things.

But then during the day, I got some random text messages. They said things like, "I finished the errands. Do you want me to vacuum?" "I cleaned the windows and vacuumed. Anything else you need me to do?"

I got home to a clean, beautiful house, where dinner was waiting for me by candlelight in the dining room. We had a full meal of yummy chicken, rice, broccoli, rolls, and dessert. Then, after dinner, he washed the dishes too!

I don't exactly know how to take all of this - except to be very very grateful.

Thanks, my love.

And the wedding planning screeches to a halt

So much success! It seems obvious that something would get hung up. After all, we've booked a church, a reception place, a DJ, I have a dress...that's a lot. But we went to interview with a photographer, and yeah, not so awesome. Now I have to figure out some other person to use.

Let me say that I do not like bargain or comparison shopping - I'm not good at it at all. :( I get frustrated and say, "That's fine, just give it to me, whatever!" Which is not the best way to go about planning a wedding.

Looks like I'll have to work on that trait.

Ha.

Of course, school starts tomorrow. And I, unlike people who have functional computers and sit at a desk all day, do not have time to do any planning at work. Nope, it's completely me on other hours. I think I'll ditch for a few weeks. :)

We'll see.

Recommendations are always appreciated! :)

Blogging...right...

So life is crazy right now. Obviously. I got engaged, I'm planning a wedding, and I go back to work in less than 2 weeks. Lots to do! But I did promise to keep blogging, so here's a few highlights.

I got a dress! It's beautiful, and lovely, and I feel like a princess in it. It makes me really happy. I want to go back to the store every day and try it on - or at least take a picture in it.

I am really proud of myself for getting back into eating healthy and not snacking as much. I've lost 2 pounds and 2 inches off my waist so far. Thanks to my trainer, I am super inspired! :)

I have great friends who help me. Thanks ladies.

There are so many people who I want to see, and not enough time to see them.

I miss Michigan - and my friends there. :(

It is incredible how much random tiffs you have while planning for a wedding.

Kevin is still looking for a job, but he's gone to a couple of interviews this week, which is good.

School? A little freaked about trying that Music Learning Theory stuff. But if I don't try things, I won't grow as a teacher.

Despite all my complaining, I have a great life - and I love my fiance!

Yes, it's true!

I am engaged! :)

I will have the story up tomorrow or Friday...finishing up grad school is intense. Almost done - 1 more essay, and revisions on a 26-page paper and 2 other essays. Phew!

I am happy, and I DEFINITELY don't want to work. :)

Liz