Engagements & Summer Greatness!

I knew early on in the year that this summer was likely to be the greatest I have ever had, and thus far, it's proving to be completely true. God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve, and I continue to be grateful. I am tickled with glee about how great my life has been, which is nothing short of blessings from God. There's nothing I could do to earn this happiness.

So far this summer I have had the opportunity to spend time relaxing and enjoying the great outdoors. My composting experiment is going pretty well, I've made a couple trips down the Illinois river, and due to some (apparently much needed) physical therapy, my knee is healing up pretty well. My orthopedic surgeon actually referred to me as "knock kneed" which I have never heard of as a term of endearment. At least that came with a prescription for physical therapy, which amazingly works (I'm a skeptic about most medical treatments, and tend to believe things will heal on their own given enough time).

Last weekend I went to Midland, TX to visit my boyfriend for the weekend and help decorate/organize the new home that he bought. We had such a great time together buying furniture, towels, rugs, and other misc things for the house. We ate great food, and most importantly spent some quality time together. Matt really is my best friend and no amount of time on the phone can compare to just sitting next to him and talking. Well on Saturday night he asked me to be his wife. I was really apprehensive about putting the news so early on Facebook and posting pictures of the event. I'm also not going to tell you the story on here because I think there's something to be said for actually having a conversation with a person about the most important decision in your life. In all fairness, I did start my blog because I wanted to provide updates about my life to people with out having to call everyone about every little thing, but I'm going to save this story. It's not grand and crazy, but it's completely perfect for us. I wouldn't have had it any other way. The picture is a hint. You're welcome!! Ha ha.

Well you guys know that I'm a "planner" and I'm trying very hard not to plan anything for this wedding until I get back from Costa Rica because I can't really make any firm decisions with out Matt (although I don't think he would mind too much, ha ha). I have snuck in a little "planning" time, mostly to surf the web and look at ideas that I like. We also need to set a date, which I think Matt and I did last night, so it wont be too long before it's official.

In further news.... on Saturday I will be flying to Costa Rica for 15 days. The first 10 days will be for school purposes and the last 5 I am going to spend with 4 other girls traveling around and enjoying the beauty that is Costa Rica. I'm really really excited and I think this will be extremely fun. If Kathryn makes me get up at 5 a.m. to go check out birds we may have words though. Ha ha, I just say that because I know she reads this.... but really... =)

I'll try to blog while I am there so everyone at home will know how I am doing what I am up to. But in all honesty, it wont bother me a bit if I don't see a phone, computer, or TV the entire time I'm there. Well... maybe a phone. As a new "fiance" I kind of feel a duty to pick up a phone a couple times to confirm that I'm alive.

And it gets better!! After my trip to Costa Rica, I'm going to go down to Midland for 3 weeks to visit Matt. I'm so excited about this! He'll be at work all day and I'm going to do exactly what I want to. I'm going to sleep in, go running, go to the farmer's market, shop for the house, work on the house/yard, cook all the time, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh it's going to be complete and utter bliss. That is basically exactly what I need before I get back to work and school and hammer out the last parts of my master's degree. I'm sooo blessed that my job is going to let me take off work for 6 weeks so I can rejuvenate for another big year. I'm probably going to be broke as a joke but I'm willing to deal with that.

The summer will conclude with Matt and I driving back to OK to go to a weekend float trip with my entire family. He will get to meet a lot of people (distant relatives) and we'll all have a really great time. I'm. So. Excited!!!!!

Posted in: Being Engaged