Girl Gets Ring

Well, I have some big news. I went to California last week to see Sean. He asked me to marry him and I said yes!

Okay, now let me back up a bit. When I was living in California last year Sean and I dated for about 6 months until I left to come back to Cincinnati. When I left I expected my feelings for him would die down, but they didn't. For six months I thought and prayed for God's guidance.

While in Kansas City he and the girls (he has an 11 year old Israel and an 8 year old Judah) came to visit. I knew it would be hard and a bit confusing to see him. I knew I would have a lot of fun with all of them. When they got there I was happier than I expected to be with them. When they left it was harder than I expected to say goodbye and go back to Cincinnati. I talked to a friend about how I was feeling and she pointed out that I hadn't told him how I was feeling. So, the next day I called and told him. A few days later he called and asked me to come to California so we could get some objective council. Next thing I know I'm on a plane to Orange County.

One evening he said something that made me think he might ask me to marry him while I was there. I was totally surprised. I called my mom the next day to see what she thought. She didn't seem too surprised! That evening he asked and I said yes! You can read more of his story here.

So, that's my big news. I am in Cincinnati right now, but I'll be moving back to California in a few weeks so that I can be closer until we get married. That will give us more time for the girls to adjust to me being around. My days are about to get quite a bit more interesting/exciting. I don't think a more wonderful thing could have happened to me.

Die Phone Die

What you don't see in this photo is my croaking phone. It's not like I jumped in and had instant remorse. No, I swam for a good long while before realizing that I had drown my phone. But doesn't it look like we are having so much fun! Ava loves the water.

A new phone should arrive at my house around sometime today. I still probably won't be able to recover all the phone numbers, so if you want to talk to me or you want me to be able to call you then you should email me your phone number.

False Alarm

I thought it was working. I make a few calls and sent a few text messages. Shortly after that it died again.

Good news. If you ever jump in the pool with your phone you can put it in a bag with silica jell packets. It will take the water out of your phone. It may take about 48 hours, but it should do the trick. :)

I forgot to mention-when the phone died so did all of the numbers. Can you email me your phone number?

A Great and Terrible Day

Yesterday was great in that it was spent by a pool with Angela and Ava. It was terrible in that when I got in the pool I still had my cell phone on me. So...if you need to get a hold of me then you can email me and I'll give you my home phone number. :)

Home Again

My last week in Kansas City was a very exciting one. I got to spend time with Christina and hear about her travel journeys. I am glad she went, but I am SO glad that she is home.

A few days after Christina arrived Sean, Israel, Judah and Jason came to town. We hung out at the Bohlender's, had great conversations, ate REALLY good food (thank you Chef Henry!) and had way too much fun. All of the kids were outside one night when Israel ran in to announce that there were fireflies outside! She and Judah had never seen them before. Judah never came in to tell us about them because she was too busy chasing them. The night before they left we went to Shiloh Gardens (where no one would think of spraying for bugs) and chased the fireflies there. We saw more lightning bugs and got more chigger bites than any of us had before.

Wednesday morning I had to say goodbye to everyone. After having spent such a great month with such wonderful little boys and amazing friends I was a bit sad to say farewell.

Now I'm back in Cincinnati. It feels good to be home. Angela and I have hung out a lot in the past two days. I didn't realize how much I missed my sister. Ava is bigger than I expected. She is sitting up on her own and getting on her hands and knees to rock back and forth. Pretty soon she'll be crawling. When I see it I'll be sure to push her down.