The engagement story

I guess I had better share our engagement story with the world...

Dave totally surprised me! I wasn't expecting the engagement at all. My 30th birthday was February 17th. I told Dave I didn't want anything for my birthday, so he showed up at my apartment February 16th with an un-birthday present. Monday went along as usual, I did lots of homework, Dave had class until 9pm.

I have voice lessons on Mondays, so I followed my normal routine. I trade my voice teacher, Bryson, lessons for haircuts. We had arranged to cut his hair that night. After I cut his hair he lingered. This was not a big deal, we hang out all the time. But looking back it was VERY obvious he was stalling. He hung around at watched TV with me. Whilst (one of my favorite new words) we were watching my good friend Holli called to see if she could bring me an early birthday present. I had no objections...

Holli showed up at my house about an hour later. She had a big oval green box with a homemade card in her hands. I was still not suspicious. Holli makes me cards every year, and I've saved them all. I love them! I realized something was up when I opened the box and saw Dave's handwriting. There was a note for me to read, and another box to open. Dave found a set of nesting boxes...there were 10, to be exact. He wanted to make my wish come true of being engaged before 30!!

Holli and Bryson were smart and grabbed the camera. They took pictures of me frantically reading the boxes trying to figure out where Dave was. Honestly I skimmed them...I wanted to know where Dave was! I realized the boxes were getting smaller and smaller, and I didn't want the ring to be there without Dave. After I read the boxes I knew I had to go meet Dave on a bench. I just didn't read closely enough to know WHICH bench.

I live on the University of Illinois' Golf Course, the 8th hole to be exact. Right off of my porch is a fairway with a bench. I thought Dave was there, and was ready to run outside. Holli stopped me to tell me to read more closely. He was not at THAT bench. If I had actually read all the boxes I would have known that he was at the bench near the clubhouse with candles. I grabbed my coat and Holli and Bryson offered to drive me to where Dave was, one block away.

As soon as I could see the candles and the car stopped I jumped out and ran (Holli says I bounced) to Dave. I grabbed him and gave him a big hug. He dropped to one knee (he brought his bath mat so he wouldn't get his knee wet from the wintery ground) and asked me to marry him. I said YES!

The date is set for May 30, 2009 in the Draper, Utah temple.

I'm engaged!

Dave and I right after he proposed!



I guess I'll have to post the full story later, but the important news is I'M ENGAGED! I am the future Mrs. David Kay, and I'm soooo excited!

Kick Start My Heart

My good friend Jillian who lives in Indy
Our Mums. People kept stopping to ask us what they were. I continually deferred to Dave to explain. Giles and Dave had a lot of fun making these!
Valentine's Day at the Roller Derby: the bout was titled "Kick Start My Heart"
Sporting their garters...

Valentine's Day was great! We went to Indianapolis for the roller derby. It was a blast to be at the derby. Dave made me a mum to wear. Apparently it's a Texas homecoming tradition. The guys make mums with ribbon and trinkets tied to them. What Dave made was only 1/3 the size of what the guys usually make, I"m glad he didn't affix a teddy bear to a cluster of mums. Dave said that girls have to wear back braces they're so heavy!! It's tradition for the girls to make a garter for the men to wear on their arms. I googled what I should be making, and attempted to channel my non-Texan roots. Dave says I did a good job! (I'm pretty sure he would say that regardless)

Already mid-February? (Feb 9, 2009)

Holy Cow! I can't believe that it's almost mid-February! Where has the year gone? I'd like to say that I have something super-exciting to report. However, I'm mainly back in the grind of grad school. It feels like I have more work than I should for this early in the semester, and I would love to get more sleep than I do. I think that's just wishful thinking!

I did have a minor miracle happen today--or at least it was for me. My computer has been acting up. I have started seeing what Logan terms "the blue screen of death" almost on a daily basis. I was panicking, worried that I'd have to buy a new computer. I thought I'd try to think rationally and instead send an email to tech support once I got to campus this morning. We have a really great computer guy who works in our department, I knew he could help me out. It turns out that all I needed was to get all my music and photos off of my hard drive. They're eating up my storage. I just bought an affordable external hard drive and should be good to go...once I find the time to hook it up and delete/move files. :)

Final days in Utah

The last few days in Utah were spent playing with Ashley, Shelby, and everyone else I could find. I played a lot with Owen, my new favorite nephew. I was trying to help him learn to walk, but it was a no go. I heard he is taking his first steps. Good job, Ow!
Kevin played with us when he could, which included taking a picture of his daugter and her plumber's crack! I was dying...I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!



Final picture with Ashley's kids until next year! Why does Owen look like he has a comb-over? I love you Emily, Tyler, and Owen! It was so much fun to hang with Ashley again...can't wait until the next time I'm in Utah!

Peteetneet School in Payson, Utah (Jan 8, 2009)

After sledding we decided to warm up by going to the museum and cultural center in Payson called Peteetneet. It was a school built int he 1800s, and was in use as a school until the 1980s. The school has since been converted to a museum and cultural center. Each of the old classrooms displays various parts of history in Payson: historical pictures and artifacts from former citizens, collections of clothing throughout the decades, displays of what the old school house looked like, as well as displays depicting various rooms in a home from the 1800s.

Sledding w/ Emily and Tyler: Jan 8, 2009

We figured out that the kids could go by themselves if we jumped and stopped them before the hit the big part of the hill. Here is Tyler taking his turn.
While I was in Utah I took my niece and nephew sledding for the first time. We went to a local park in Payson. Emily and Tyler loved it. We had to drag them off the hill after an hour!
Of course once you go down, you must climb back up the hill. Emily had to problem with that. I, however kept slipping and falling halfway down. I think I ended up with 3 or 4 bruises the next day. I'm becoming more like mom every day!
Ashley even went down a few times--and by a few I mean maybe once. She was a bigger fan of taking the pictures.