So I wasn’t sure what to do with my evening after the dishes were done and I was thinking…hey, I should write a journal update! According to livejournal my last update was 27 weeks ago. That seems like a long enough break in between entries, especially this time when I have actual news!

Jeff and I got engaged!

He asked me on Christmas morning (I got to find my ring among the Christmas ornaments on the tree). Apparently he wanted to marry me even though he had already had a three week stint as my personal chef, chauffer, and cleaning person 24/7.

~Insert side story~
At that point I had been out of work 3 weeks with 2 bulging discs in my back which gave me pain such that I spent, on average, about 14 hours a day just sleeping in a vicodin haze and the rest of the time crying in pain or laying around not doing a whole lot of anything. I was out of work for 5 weeks and the pain only lessened last week after I got an epidural steroid shot. Now I’m back at work but only part time until my next shot on Feb. 1st. Fun times all around.
~End side story~

Anyway, back to the happy news. I said yes of course :) and now we’re trying to plan a wedding with a very short engagement period. We’re actually getting married in a very small ceremony (16 people officially now) on May 17th (yes, this year) hopefully at an inn in Bennington VT (we go on Saturday to check out the inn and hopefully sign the contract.) I have quickly learned that even planning a very small wedding is a lot of work! We also plan on having a BBQ celebration for my huge extended family and some friends sometime in the late summer or the early fall. Once we get the place set for the actual ceremony I’ll feel a lot better since I already bought my dress (it didn’t even need alterations!) and that will mean that two huge parts out of the planning are out of the way. We’re trying to stick to a really small budget because we’re paying 90% of the costs on our own and we’d like to buy a house sometime in the near future but I’m really happy with the idea of a small wedding so it’s perfect to me.

So yup, that’s the biggest news of the last 27 weeks :) Maybe more news after his parents meeet my parents in February…. That should be an event for sure!

I never know where to start or what to write and I'm not sure it's ever interesting...I think these are my excuses why I never post :) However, I did promise a post with some updates so i will follow through.

Let's see....I can't say my life is drastically different but there have been a few changes here and there. Still at National Grid, and now in Hopedale permenantly (not sure if that's news or not). Still playing volleyball although I've gained a new league and have been playing a lot more tournaments this year then I did last year. I also have my own team in one of the leagues so I get to be a captain and everything. It's pretty exciting.

Over the past 9 months I've spent over a month at home and away from work taking care of my parents. My dad had two surgeries for peripheral vascular disease in his legs and I've been going home and taking care of my mom etc. Hopefully he is getting better now though after this second surgery.

Jeff moved in the weekend after Easter so that's been really good being able to be in the same place and not have to drive back and forth to get to eachother plus it's helpful to us as a couple emotionally to be able to spend more time together and financially to split costs.

Hopefully everything will keep getting better from what things were like last fall with my dad getting sick etc.

So there's my little life update :) Now that I've proven myself and come throughwith an update drop by the link in my last post and consider given a donation to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Jeff and I will be out there walking tomorrow. Even $5 can help! We'd be really really thankful if you helped us out!

So I know, once again, I haven't updated in a very very long time...and in fact I have quite a few things I could update about but I only have a very limited amount of time right now so for now just a quick request. (I promise, definitely for sure, to post a real post this week).

Anyway, many of you know that my mom has Multiple Sclerosis. Many of you also know that I've done the MS Walk a few times in the past. This year Jeff and I are doing the walk in Easton next Saturday (April 28th). Any donation you can make, however small, would be a huge help. MS has had a very large effect on my family and any work towards a treatment of cure is a positive step. Here's the URL where you can donate.

Our MS Walk Website

Thanks to anyone who can spare a few dollars to help us out and very very soon, a real update. I promise :)

So Sunday Jeff and I put up our tree! I love Christmas! Here are some pictures, yay!
( Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! )

Sister Hazel's new CD, Absolutely, came out yesterday. This is the first time I've ever bought a CD the day it came out and it was definitely worth it. PLUS, they are coming back to MA on 11/11 to do a CD release concert at Harper's Ferry!

Perhaps Rockboat '08 is in my future as well?

( Spoiled? )
Grabbed from mikecap

I think you might get two updates from me today…..yikes! :)

I’ve decided that I should start posting about trips that Jeff and I take and exciting stuff we do a little more regularly so that’s the first thing I’m going to post.

Friday night after work Jeff (who had gotten Saturday off from work) and I started our drive up to Maine to spend the weekend at joatball’s family camp with joatball and nimoz. Between traffic being horrible and not being able to find food off of 95 it took us forever to get there and we didn’t arrive until almost 10pm.

The cabin was cute and right on the lake completely obscured by woods. There was even a fire which was fun (and warm thankfully!). Saturday after breakfast we hiked to the top of Bear Mountain for a geocache. Okay so I mostly dragged myself up the mountain spurred on by 3 people in much better shape than me, but I made it none the less. Sadly none of us had a camera since the views were amazing! After hiking back down nimoz and I paddled across the lake in the canoe while joatball and Jeff split firewood and then we all took a quick dip in the very very cold lake to get clean.

Afterwards much playing of games (Hotels won by joatball and texas hold ‘em won by nimoz ) and eating of spaghetti ensued before bed while some crazy thunderstorms took place outside our cozy little cabin.

Sunday Jeff and I headed to llbean which was a success in buying a travel toiletries organizer, wool socks for both of us, and a sweater as well as ordering some new boots for my dad. Not as much success was found in our trip through York to show Jeff where I had worked and buy Goldenrod kisses as we didn’t make it there until 30 mins after they closed :( We did however play some games in the arcade for a little while.

We made it home around 5:30 pm decently tired but having had a great weekend. The end! :)

So I had a pretty kick ass weekend. It started off on Friday when Dale came over, pretty much on a whim to help me put together a project I was working on for Jeff. I even got to take him to my favorite breakfast place before he headed back to Boston :) Then Saturday Jeff came over around 2 and we couldn't wait to exchange the gifts we had bought for each other...yes, we know it was only our 6 month-a-versary but I think we just wanted an excuse to give each other something :) Anyway, I gave him mine first which was a dresser I had bought and assembled and filled with various clothes and items such that when he stays at my apartment he has his very own place to keep his things, hopefully to make it feel a little more like home. I had also dyed some tank tops for him (couldn't find A-shirts in maroon (why would you be able to find them really)), and we had taken some pictures of us that nimoz photoshopped for me and I framed. Then it was his turn to give me his gift. First he read me a testimonial of sorts that he had written for us. It's not quite done yet but when it's finished we are going to submit it as our success story for yahoo.com :P It was really sweet. Then he handed me this really neat box with a little magnetic clasp that opened like a 3 dimensional envelop. Inside was a certificate for an "xperience". The xperience he had chosen for us was a dinner cruise for 2 on Boston Harbor. I get to choose the day. It was so thoughtful, a perfect idea for something for us to do together, and totally something I didn't expect from him.

After that we went shopping for new sandals, had dinner at Ruby Tuesday and watched a movie followed on Sunday with a trip to the Rayhnam Flea Market for a new belt for Jeff and a new Claddagh ring for me since I lost mine at volleyball on Thursday. We also hung out at his house in the afternoon and dug out an old board game called Hotels which is a lot like Monopoly but cooler. Just overall a relaxing, awesome, enjoyable weekend. I have an awesome boyfriend :) Next weekend we're off to 6 flags NJ!