Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Show and Tell: Engagement Story!

Today is Show and Tell Tuesday with Andrea at Momfessionals! Today's show and tell is how you met your partner, became engaged, etc. I shared how Dave and I started dating two weeks ago, so I'll share a different story here.
We started dating on July 2, 2009. The following January, we started talking about getting married and in February I left school a little early one day and we looked at rings. (Little did I know he had already been doing his research!) Dave had worked small jobs here and there since he got home from Mexico in October so we had been spending a lot of time together. He worked weekends in Chicago and hurried back home so we could spend the week together when I wasn't working. One of those times I went with him so we had a fun day in Chicago! 

One time in the fall when he was home for awhile, we decided to go to Chicago to visit his sister and her family. We looked into tickets to NYC and they were reasonable, so we hopped on a plane to NY and had a date in the city! We got there in the morning and left that evening. 


Just for fun, here's a picture from summertime when Dave was home from Mexico to visit me.  



Back to the story :) He worked two weeks in Toronto, CA and came home for a week for Thanksgiving. He took smaller jobs like that and it really was perfect for us! I had been dreading the end of February so so much. He was leaving to go and work in Canada for two weeks, then he'd be working pretty much every day for the next several months. In other words, our months of seeing a lot of each other were coming to an end. I kept thinking it'd be easier to be away from him if we were engaged. I might have even mentioned that to him a time or two. (Haha!) The last evening we spent together I kept hoping he'd surprise me with a ring and an important question. I was extra bummed when he left that time. He was gone and we weren't engaged. I wasn't sure when we'd see each other again, but it was at least two weeks away. 

He worked in Canada while I plugged away at school. That's a mentally tough time to be a teacher. It was two months since Christmas break and Spring Break was still a month away. 

On Tuesday, March 9, I was sitting on my bed writing a blog post about "making it through" the tough days at school. I heard someone come in the door and it was Dave! And he was all dressed up! And he wasn't supposed to be home for several more days. And I had talked to him last night and he wasn't coming home. He was at work in Canada! I jumped up to give him a hug and we went into the hallway. The next thing I knew, he was on one knee saying beautiful things and asking me to marry him. I was still so shocked he was there, I said yes and gave him a hug. I completely forgot about the ring. After a couple minutes he asked if I wanted to see my ring. :) of course! :) 


We shared the news with my family, then drove around sharing the news with his family and some of my friends. What a fun evening!! We went back to my mom and dad's house and they surprised us with a party.


They threw everything together while we were driving around. :) 
We got married four months later, one year exactly after our first date. 

It's been almost five years since we started our married journey together and I couldn't ask for a better husband and dad for my kids!

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Belated Friday Favorites

We were traveling and busy all day Friday so I didn't get a chance to post. 

I just wanna say, I have a new FAVORITE! And I can hardly believe I'm typing this. 

First of all, check out this selfie I took the other day...

Yes, that's coffee in my hand. And no, it's not Starbucks!!! 

Caribou Coffee's Dark Chocolate Mint Condition is my new favorite coffee drink. 
Serious YUM in this cup! 

Since I discovered the deliciousness that is a mocha, I've loved Starbucks. That was back in '06 when I was living in Connecticut and going to NYC every weekend. First I discovered mochas, specifically their peppermint mocha. Mmmm mmmm! Fast forward about six months... Its a hot muggy NYC day in early July and my friend Sarah and I are spending one last afternoon at Starbucks before saying goodbye. (She was moving.) the sign out front said something about a raspberry mocha frappuccino. I decided to be super daring and try it, with Sarah's encouragement. It was so so soooooo good!! I finished it and since we had another 45 minutes til we had to say goodbye, I ordered a second one. It was THAT good! #noshame haha!

Ok, so my love of Starbucks continued on for about eight years... Until one day I wanted coffee, had two boys with me, and the Starbucks didn't have a drive thru. Caribou Coffee, less than half a mile away, had a drive thru. So I tried it. It was good. Tried it again a couple weeks later. Yum! Then one day this past week I was craving coffee something and Caribou Coffee Dark Chocolate Mint Condition was my first thought. I drove right past Starbucks to get that mocha. It's just delicious! I think the thing that takes it over the top is the dark chocolate. Try one :)  

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Where We Live

So.... This place has been our home for the last six months. We travel to different cities in the US for Dave's work at auto plants. Mostly we stay in hotels because we never know how long we'll be somewhere. There have been times when he's gotten a phone call in the morning and found out that was the last day there. So we pack up and move on to the next job. 

Last week we moved from the second floor to the first. It's so much easier getting out with the boys while Dave is at work if we are on the first floor. I took that opportunity to take some photos without all of our stuff. In this first photo, I'm standing in the kitchen looking toward the living room and French doors. 

Here I'm standing by the couch. Our little kitchen. You can kind of see the fridge in the corner there, and there's two electric burners on the countertop next to it. I am able to do some cooking with that, but I mostly use a crock pot and griddle. 

Standing in the doorway looking in the bedroom. 

And standing by the window looking through the bedroom into the bathroom. 


Our little 300sq ft home :)

I'm ready to leave this place. And we haven't gotten any of those phone calls about being done. We've been here a long time and had lots of fun times, but I'm ready to move on! 
It's been a good home for us for a year and a half. We've been able to travel home quite a bit. We've seen lots of Tigers games. We've had some company. We've explored the area. 
We are getting some company next week (!!!)  and after they leave, I'm ready for a phone call ;) 

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Show & Tell Tuesday:: Groundhog Day!

I'm excited because today is another link-up with Andrea at Momfessionals.com. It's "Show and Tell Tuesday" today! She came up with a blog post subject for every other Tuesday for all of 2015 and today's is "Groundhog Day." To be specific, what day would you go back to to live over and over again.


I've been thinking about this a lot over the past week or so. Many different days have popped into my head, but I kept feeling like it wasn't the right one. 
Last night I came up with the day. 

Specifically, July 3, 2009. It was the day after my first date with Dave. I had been helping out my sister after she had twins and that day I was going home. Home was 8.5-9 hours northwest. It happened to be where "home" was for Dave, too. He was working in Mexico City that summer and was back in Michigan for the weekend. Going into that weekend, he wasn't sure what he was going to do for the weekend beyond go on a date with me on Thursday (July 2). He had a couple ideas in mind. 

Well, we happened to really hit it off on our first date! We went for dinner at a Thai place. Talked a lot. We went for a walk. Talked some more. Got coffee. You got it - more talking. Neither of us was ready for the night to be over, so we went to his house and - yep, had lots to talk about. One of the things we talked about was the next few days. He decided to go home. I asked for a ride. 

Our second date was a 530 mile drive to the other end of the state! And that's my Groundhog Day. That's the day I'd like to live over again. The drive ended up taking about eleven hours because we didn't want it to end. It was a leisurely fun drive, getting to know each other.  It really kind of set the tone for our relationship, because since that day we haven't stopped traveling. I look back fondly on that first trip when we both knew something good was happening. :) :) That day was really the start of the best thing that's ever happened to me! 

We didn't take any photos that day, but here's one from that weekend. So young! 


Stop by tomorrow to see where we've been living! 

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, February 2, 2015

Weekend Recap:: Super Bowl Edition

We had another busy weekend of staying home and making the most of what we have here. It was 70 and gorgeous out last Wednesday and over the weekend it got colder, the rain came, the rain turned to slush and to snow, and on Sunday we got several inches of snow. Needless to say, I didn't feel like going anywhere by myself with these two guys, so we stayed home. 

We did some fun things around here, like go swimming! 

I needed a little break, so I gave both boys their pluggies and nigh-nigh blankies and told Aiden to read books to Anders. It worked, you guys!! I got ten minutes out of this!

While the boys napped on Friday and Saturday, I studied this plan and figured out how much paint we needed for each room. I also finished figuring out the color for each room. It's so exciting! Drywall is all done and we will have color up this week!! :) :) 


Saturday was my mom's birthday. Sadly we did not see her, but we definitely FaceTimed her! This photo was from Halloween. My lil puppy and skeleton visiting Grandma at work. :) 

When Aiden woke up from his nap on Saturday I asked him what he wanted to do. Go for a walk? -no. Go for a drive? -no. Go swimming? Yes! Ok, bud, let's go swimming! 
Unfortunately there were lots of loud tween boys in the pool and it was way too scary for Aiden and Anders. We didn't even get to get our toes wet. 

Aiden loves putting things in rows and figuring out how things go together. Here he is showing me some sippie cups that he put together. He put a toy inside each one, put the sippie top on, and put the cover on the top. He was so proud! :) 

When Dave got home, we definitely relaxed! 

And played some fun games! 

This happened on Sunday morning and my heart just about melted. Aiden found two trucks from the same set, gave one to Anders and they played together. :) well, as much as a 2 year old and 6.5 month old can play together! 

Later I asked Aiden to hold Anders for a minute. Anders had a better idea... He saw a toy he wanted and rolled right out of there! 

Aiden tried out his brother's exersaucer. He lasted several minutes longer than I thought he would! 

My sister Heidi sent this out and asked who wanted to join her... I went for it! I only did it for the first half but boy, was it a workout! Especially all the lunges! There were LOTS if first downs in that first quarter. Today I am sore! 


Our menu was white pizza dip with chips, pop, wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, and chicken pad Thai. Talk about yummy!! 

Aiden loved the chicken pad Thai! We've never given it to him before, thinking it is too spicy for him. He couldn't get enough of it! Haha :) I guess he is our boy. We should've figured... :) 

Anders didn't make it to the end of the game. He fell asleep in his football jammies before the excitement of the last couple minutes. 
What a fun game to watch! And a fun party with just the four of us. :)

Happy Monday!