For the bird lovers

Its no secret that I have a thing for Peacocks.  Well I also have a thing for owls.  And just happened upon this website that shares my love.

I am particularly liking this wreath.

And these cute salt and pepper shakers.

I wonder if Michael would notice a big Peacock wreath hanging in the house...

http://www.shopplasticland.com/c/Birds-Feathers.html&offset=0&sort=

I'm Engaged!

So on our trip to Washington, my wonderfully sweet boyfriend surprised me with the most amazing gift.

About 2 months ago my parents came to visit Michael and I in Memphis.  Unbeknownst to me at that time my dad asks Michael what his intentions were in regards to me.  Michael won't tell me the full details, but he said something to the effect of wanting to spend his life with me.  About a week later he called my dad and officially asked him if it would be ok to ask me to marry him.  My dad said yes, of course.
Then Michael was very tricky, or maybe resourceful would be a better word.  A little while after Michael and I started dating I started my Wedding board on Pinterest.  You know, just in case.  Well clever Michael, he signed up for Pinterest under the pretext that he wanted to see if it had anything to offer guys.  What he really did was go in and print out all of the ring pictures I had pinned.  The next day he told me he didn't find anything useful in it so he canceled his account.  He had what he needed though.  He took the pictures to a jeweler and found me the perfect ring!
He said he had decided to propose in Seattle since he knew it was such a special place to me.  The day we were in Seattle was the very last day of our trip.  So for the whole week leading up to it, Michael was carrying the ring around Washington and apparently having little pow-wows with everyone we saw.  I think I am one of the only people in Washington who didn't know this was going to happen.
So Monday we headed from my grandparents up to Seattle.  We started the day walking around the UW campus, and then driving through some of my favorite neighborhoods.  We even went and visited the Fremont Troll. Then we made our way downtown for our reservations at the Spaceneedle.  I had wanted to take him there to celebrate his birthday which was the next day.  A few minutes after we sat down at our table and the waiter had brought us some water, Michael suggested we take a picture with the beautiful view of the sound in the background.  I said I wanted to wait until the city came back into view.  It took us about 20 minutes to get back around and I meanwhile was pointing out different landmarks and telling Michael about Seattle.  He was quiet and I thought just listening to me and enjoying the view.  Apparently he was actually in agony waiting.  Once the city got back into view, we waved our waiter over to take a picture of us.  Michael got up and made his way over to my side of the table.  He pulled the chair out, and then...

Michael getting down on one knee and presenting me with a ring and the best 4 words ever, Will you marry me?!  

Me in complete and utter shock not believing what was happening.

Taking it all in.

YES, of course!!!

(So happy!)

Slipping on the ring.

Happily newly engaged on the top of the world!!

Beautiful

(And perfect since I had gotten a manicure for my brothers wedding)

Needless to say it was the perfect ending to a great trip.  

Now, into planning mode.

Visiting Home

So I realize I am a little late in posting this, but better late than never!  My visit back home to Washington state was a magical one.  I got to see family I haven't seen in a long time.  I got to spend some quality time with high school friends, family friends and college friends.  My brother got married.  AND I got engaged!!  (but thats for another post)
Warning:  Lots of pictures!

Our family friends the Storedahl's hosted a great BBQ for us.  I love when they host things at their house.  The outdoor living area they have is absolutely amazing.

Relaxing before the party

Tracie, moms friend and one of my other mothers.

The ladies of the family

Grandma

Papa

I got to drink some Washington brewed beer!!  I miss this stuff so much!

The grill masters

Took a trip up to the old house and stopped to admire the gorgeous view from a real hill!

The mountain made an appearance!  (luckily we were sitting still in traffic so I had plenty of opportunity to take a pic)

Me and sis at Derrick's wedding.

Michael and I at the wedding. (yes I did change dresses)

Showing Michael around one of my favorite cities, had to get a pic with the troll!

One of my favorite parts of the trip, CELEBRATING and catching up with these amazing ladies!!  

(Now go to next post to see why we're celebrating)

8 Days!

Yes, that is right, in 8 days I will be back in the wonderful state of Washington!  I haven't been back for over a year and that trip was only 3 days.  This time I will be there for a whole week.  And to top it off I will have the best company, Michael!  He has never been to the west coast and I am so excited to show him around and introduce him to everyone out there.
The main reason for the trip is Derrick and Pablo's wedding.  However, we will also be busy celebrating my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, a mini high school reunion since I won't be there for the real one, and a fun filled day in Seattle.  I feel like I've been waiting all year for August to get here and now it is!  Well close enough.

Family

The one bad thing about living in Memphis is the fact that I don't get to see my family nearly as often as I would like to.  However, every once in a while things work out and I get to see them outside of a holiday.  This past week was one of those occasions.  My dad had some business up in Louisville and so my mom and him decided to extend the business trip and come visit Michael and I.  It was actually kind of a big visit.  First, my parents (and Sarah) stayed with Michael and I at our house.  I wasn't sure how my mom was going to handle that, but she did amazingly well!  Although she did make sure to talk about marriage and children as much as possible.  And second, Michael and I introduced our parents to each other!  I wasn't really nervous about them meeting, I figured it would go well.  But I was still relieved to see how well they all got along!  It made me so happy to know that my family and their family can be one big family!  Needless to say it was a great few days.  However, I am now exhausted.

Enjoying some good ole southern BBQ

At the park on the 4th waiting for fireworks

Mom and Dad

Mom and Sarah

King Size

Last weekend Michael and I made our first big purchase as roomies, a new bed!!  Originally he had a full, then when I moved in we had my queen.  Apparently, though, he was not a fan of my mattress, so shopping we went.  Lucky for us Mattress Firm had just put out a Groupon and they were also having a double coupon sale.  So instead of sticking with a queen, we decided to supersize it and go with a king!

The cats love it obviously.

There is sooooo much room!!  Seriously, I feel like I am on a tiny island.  And its so tall!  I actually have to do a little hop to get up on it. Its great, and so very comfortable.  When we first got it, we had it on the other side of the room but it was so big and overpowering we had to rearrange.  You can't really tell in the pic, but the bed is now framed by a window on each side which helped shrink it down some.  Its still pretty dominating though.  Now we just need to find a new comforter we both like.  The one on the bed now is actually the king I was using on my queen.  Time for more shopping!!  (and maybe I can sneak in a couple throw pillows!)

New Toys

I have to admit, this year I am feeling pretty spoiled.  For mine and Michael's six month anniversary I got a beautiful pearl necklace and dinner at the BEST steak house in town.  Then for my birthday he got me bicycle!  I've been wanting a bicycle for a while now, ever since they opened the Greenline and started putting in bike lanes on all the roads (both of which are huge steps for Memphis).  Well I mentioned it to Michael and he immediately decided that he'd get me one.  And I love it.  In fact we just went on a long ride this weekend and had lunch out at the park we rode to.  Only issue was that we decided to leave the house at 12:30 and by then it was about 98 degrees outside.  By the time we got to the park I was so hot!  Lets just say the ride back wasn't as fun as the ride out.

Isn't is beautiful?!  (Mine is on the right.)

Not only did I get this magnificent bike, but my parents felt compelled to buy me a new computer!  My old PC laptop has served me well the last 4 years, but it often gets over heated and will just turn off on me without warning.  Not so conducive when you are working on grants and papers for hours on end.  As with the bike, I have been wanting a new laptop, specifically a MacBook Pro.  All of our computers in the lab are Macs and I have officially converted from PC to Mac.  They are just so much better.  So good old mom and dad helped me out and got me a MacBook.  They are so great like that.  And while I feel pretty good using Macs now, Michael decided it was worth the money to sign up for One-to-One.  Now I get a year of free training whenever I want!  My first one is tomorrow.  I'm pretty excited.  I am totally going to become a Mac expert.

Love!

I really do feel like the luckiest girl!  But I better not push my luck.  I'm thinking small now.  Like maybe a new sewing machine so I can become domestic!  Those are pretty cheap right??