Ordinary

I realize this pic's a little blurry, but I think you get the idea.  If you're not sure...yes, that's me, working out in a weight room.  What you can't tell is that it's at the fire station.  And I have muscles.  No one is more surprised than I am.  :-) 

We work out.  We go to work.  We do ordinary things like shop at the grocey store and dance in the aisles. We watch the Lady Bears not show up in the Final Four game, and hang out with dear, sweet friends.  And I love it all.  {I must admit, that someties I do get a little distracted by something shiny on my hand, but I'm good with that.} 

This week I had the privelege of hanging out with Chef Sarah, who's in town from London.  Catching up on her exciting life overseas was such a treat.  Tonight is dinner with SMoo, and then a very special girls weekend with most of my nearest and dearest.  I. Can't. Wait.

Answering Yes.

"What happens when God answers your prayers with a “Yes!”?
What happens when the very thing you’ve longed for, flower desired from seed planted long ago, is blooming in glorious spring-time beauty?
{Might sound like a silly question.}
It seems like we are more prepared sometimes for the answer to be “No.”, “Not right now.”, or unnerving silence, than when the pounding on doors of heaven, the thing that brought you to your knees in the heavenly throne room, is answered with a “Yes, my sweet.” When God takes confidence in you, puts His plan in you and knows it will come to fruition."  From the (in)courage blog.  {Thought this was so appropriate for this week...}

{Adam, under the tree where we got engaged.}

I'm still adjusting to my most recent "YES!" from the Lord.  It's been such an incredible week.  I can't tell you how blessed I am to get to marry my best friend.  

We're still soaking in all this engagement celebration.  I think it's safe to say we are very loved and all our friends and families are really excited for us.  :-)  

Last night we had an impromptu celebration at Ozona's with our Dallas BSB friends (plus some Houstonians that were in town).  Adam has been indoctrinated and will join the group as number 45.  (XLV in Roman Numerals!  I think I'll make him a shirt.  Ha.)

After telling my Mom and Dad (there were lots of big hugs all around), here were some fun reactions to our big news...

• Papa said he wasn't surprised, and that he was really excited.  Then in the next breath, he asked how the lantern worked that we borrowed from him when we went camping.  (We laughed so hard at this!!)
• Anna was shocked, and then proceeded to text me every hour with ten different emoticons.  I loved it.
• Vicki (from BSB) and Adam have a special bond, so we called to tell her.  We woke her up, but I'm pretty sure it was well worth it!
• We woke Claire up when we got home, and scared her half to death, I think.  She and I sat and talked for an hour after that.  Thanks for sacrificing your sleep for all the excitement, roomdog!
• Sarah called me back at 2 a.m.  She's in London and so the time difference was all off.  I will never forget talking to her that early in the morning!  

I called Amanda, SMoo, Katie, and Mary Ellen, too.  They all had bets on when he was going to propose, but no one was as right as Lyndsy.  I couldn't get a hold of her that night, but I texted and told her to call me when she woke up.  Her first words were, "Are you engaged??"  She won the bet!

I called Aussie the next morning (who's an hour ahead of us), and woke him up.  Oops.  I thought he'd be awake.  Sometimes a cousin's big news just can't wait any longer!  

These are two of my mom's nearest and dearest.  We call them "Her People."  They are like my second moms.  (I have A LOT of those!)  I went by my parents' house to say hi on Thursday, and they opened the door like this, just so excited!  I thought it was too cute not to take a picture.

Going to church this morning was a lot of fun.  I saw friends that have known me my whole life watch me grow up in an instant.  I got a lot of, "I remember when you were five..." or "How are you so grown up?"  

Thank you for all of your excitement.  Things are slowly getting back to normal around here.  I'm doing laundry and trying to keep my feet on the ground, but this celebrating is just a lot of fun.  I try really hard to stop and ask people about their lives when they're so sweet to take an interest in mine.  I'll try not to post everything "wedding" on here, but sometimes it's just too fun not to share!    

Adam asked me to marry him!

And I said YES!

I've gotten several requests for a blog post about our proposal, and now it's 3 a.m. and I can't sleep.  Things  have calmed down just a smidge, and so I thought I'd go ahead and share our story.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Sunday was our one year anniversary.  We got back from camping with friends and hung out together.  We ate at Chili's and danced to music in Adam's garage.  It was a special day for us, and we were really happy.  Adam told me he was planning something special for Monday, to really celebrate.  I didn't think anything of it.  He's a great planner, very thoughtful and quite romantic.

Monday rolled around and I left the office, and a few girls said, "Text me if he proposes!"  I laughed and confidently informed them that it would be a while before he proposed.  Ha.  

We ran Monday after I got there, and then we were going to head to the Arboretum, but he discovered right before I got to his apartment that they close at 5, so his original plan to picnic there wasn't going to work.  Adam devised Plan B on the fly, and after I got cleaned up from running, I walked out to his balcony set like this...

We had sandwiches on french bread, fruit, champagne and Sprinkles Cupcakes (yum!).  On the cupcake box, AMP wrote, "To My Best Friend.  I love you, Shay Bear!"  Adam's really sweet, in case you missed that ;-), and so this was really special, but nothing in my mind said he was going to propose.   

We ate out there and listened to music and just talked and laughed, as usual.  

We drank a little champagne to celebrate dating one year (and one day...), and then Adam asked if I wanted to go for a walk.  I love the lake, and it was a beautiful night out.  His apartment backs right up to the water, pretty much, and we've spent a lot of time out there in the last year.

We headed over towards this tree, where we'd hung out once before.  We'd been waiting to see the results of the 5k we'd run, and Adam placed in his age group.  I remember that he climbed this tree and acted goofy, as usual.  So this was no ordinary tree!  

As we walked that direction on Monday evening, the sun had set and there was barely any light left, except for the baseball field lights nearby.  We walked and talked about the future and what that might look like together.  This was not out of the ordinary, either, as we'd been talking like that more often lately.  

We sat on those little white steps under the tree for a while and talked some more, and then he got up and led me under the big branch that dips down.  Adam told me the week before that I was his best friend, which had made me cry happy little tears.  All of a sudden he was telling me that again, but as he did this, he got down on one knee and asked me to be his best friend for life.

I. Was. Shocked.  I had no idea.  I said, "Wha...??  Are you kidding me??"  

I cried and we hugged and laughed.  I really lost it when he said, "Oh by the way, it's cool with your parents.  I had lunch with your Dad."  At that point I just sat down.  We sat there for about an hour and a half and just kind of soaked it all in.  Adam prayed for us, and we kept saying things like...

"We're getting married."  

"Adam asked me to marry him." 

"Shay will be Adam's wife."

Seriously, it took a while to sink in!

This was when we got back inside and took a pic to remember.  And here's where it gets kind of funny.  Adam really wanted the proposal to be a surprise, and he also wanted my input in picking out the ring, but he didn't want to take me ring shopping and then have the surprise ruined.  Makes sense.

He proposed late Monday night and worked Tuesday, so the first opportunity to shop for a ring would be Wednesday.  I wanted to wait until I had a ring to tell people, because I knew that's the first thing they'd ask to see.  Adam told his parents Monday night, but other than that, we kept it a secret until Wednesday.

It was the hardest secret to keep!  But it was also neat because we got to soak it in and share it, just the two of us.

Adam told me to do my homework and have some ideas of what I wanted.  (This was not a problem!)  So we met after work and I walked in with a list of three rings that I wanted to see in person.  I tried on about 10 or so, and kept coming back to this one.  I love it!

Within an hour, we'd decided on this one.  Adam told me later that he thought we'd be there 'til they closed.  Nope...I know what I like!  :-)  Then they told me that I'd have to wait until the following week to get the ring.  I was bummed.  

I tried really hard to be a big girl about it, and Adam went back to talk to the guy about getting it sooner. They said it wasn't possible.  So we went to dinner at the Galleria and walked through Nordstrom and Pottery Barn (woohoo!).  

I took Adam back to his car at the jewelry store, and he planned to meet me back at my apartment.  He was about 15 minutes behind me, and when he got inside, within one minute, he was down on his knee again, but he pulled a ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him again!  I squealed this time!  He'd been able to talk the guy into having it ready for us Wednesday night.

I started texting my parents to figure out where they were.  I really wanted us to go together and tell them in person.  Turns out my dad had a conference at a hotel in Las Colinas, so they were staying there.  

I had to call my mom who was up in Frisco, and Adam has me telling her on video.  It's funny.  I didn't know how else to get her to the hotel!  So we made plans to meet in the lobby and she would get my dad down there.

My Dad met us down in the lobby, and it didn't take long for me to tell him!  

It turned out to be a really fun way to share our news, and the night was very celebratory!  We ordered some food and drinks, Adam told the story (which I loved to hear him tell it!), and then I started making phone calls.  

Bless his heart!  He had to go to work the next morning, too, but he was such a trooper and so sweet as I sat there and dialed away.

We sat there for a couple of hours.  First we called Troy.  He was speechless.  

I'll have to do a whole post on everyone's reactions.  Anna was the most excited for us, so that's to say that she was SUPER excited, because everyone we talked to was thrilled for us!  Some were more surprised than others.  :-)  It was so much fun, and such a relief to finally be telling people!

I love this picture Adam took.  My parents were both taking pics of my ring with their phones.  I just love the look my mom has on her face!

We're getting married!

I slept about two hours that night, because I was so excited and because my phone was ringing/texting off the hook.  Adam asked me to marry him again (for a third time) on Facebook, and it has been unreal all the attention we've been getting.  Kind of overwhelming at times, but when that happens I just sit back and remember that I get to spend the rest of my life with Adam, and at the end of the day, that's the most important part! 

We are so excited and are looking at dates in the Fall.  I'm still pinching myself to make sure this is for real.  It is!  

We have the sweetest family and friends, and it's been so much fun sharing this special time with them. Adam, thanks for making this the most memorable week of my life.  I love you so very much!  

Feed the Birds

Last Thursday after our run, Adam and I went to feed the ducks down at the lake.  I love (like, really love) watching the sunset out there.

Beautiful.

{Self Portrait}

The geese know it's feeding time, and they come up and eat right out of your hand!

They like Adam!

Each of them have names, and the locals know them all. 

 I'm feeding Angel, a rescued African Goose.  She's extra skinny.  Bless her heart!

{Forgive the hair.  It was windy and we'd gone for a run.  

I'm growing out my pony tail...it's a process...}

This is a beaver-type animal that lives in the water.  He ate bread right out of a guy's hand.  I thought it was cute until he turned tail and swam.  His tail looks like a rat!  Grody.

Mr. Handsome.

This is one of the prettiest places in Dallas, to be sure.  I feel like I've stepped out on vacation when I come down here.  Love it!

We go camping!

I'm sure you've been in suspense waiting to see me camping, right?  Well it's your lucky day!

{See...here I am...camping!}

Adam and I met Sandy & David out in East Texas on Cooper Lake.  We loaded up AMP's truck and headed out for a little getaway.  On the way out there, we passed an IHOP, and I discovered Adam's love for their pancakes.  Who knew?!  I didn't!

It was beautiful weather, and we enjoyed being outside so much.  After we got there, we hung out by the lake, walked around, played on the playground, soaked up some sun and played catch.

I've discovered that camping is a lot of building fires, cooking and making 20 minute round-trip walks to the bathroom.  In between all of that, there's a lot of good and hilarious conversations that occur. 

{we laughed a lot}

{Adam discovered that I ate carrots, and tried to get me to do the "What's up Doc?" face. }

Sandy made pot roast for dinner--she chopped up veggies and a chuck roast and put a packet of McCormick's Pot Roast seasoning in it, and then made a foil pouch to put right on the fire.  It was delicious!

{Firemen love fires.  Makes sense, huh?}

After dinner we sat around and talked and played a game at the picnic table.  The moon was so bright that night (I think it's the brightest it will be in our lifetime or something cool and science-y like that).  

We had a "shelter" with four bunk beds, a small fridge and a microwave, so it really wasn't roughin' it too bad.  (But it was  still out of my comfort zone!)  I don't sleep a whole lot at night these days, so I was awake from 3 to 4:30.  I saw Adam get up across the room, so I waved, as if he could help me go to sleep.  Ha.  He sweetly offered to drive me to the bathroom, and Sandy heard us whispering about it and wanted in on the trip, too.  So off we went.  And I went right back to sleep--imagine that.

Sandy & David on Sunday morning cooking breakfast.  

They're getting married in May and asked me to sing at their wedding!

Adam and I waiting on breakfast to cook.  (It's a little trickier than dinner.  

What breakfast foods can you cook in a foil pouch?? )

Sunday was our one year anniversary, and it was fun to spend the whole weekend together.  We got back and hung out some more and went to Chili's for dinner.  (It's kind of "our place.")  Later, we danced to my iPod and kind of re-lived when we first met.  It was sweet.  

We celebrated with a romantic dinner on Monday night, and I'll have to do a whole other post on that!  It's hard to believe it's been a whole year--time flies when you're having fun!

The Clampetts go Camping

...oh wait, this is just MY stuff.  Yikes.

Adam and I went camping on Saturday with some friends from church, Sandy & David.  The last time I camped was for five days in Arkasas (in a tent) so that I could "graduate" from the eighth grade.  I survived that, so I figured I could make it one night in a "shelter" in the woods.  The "roughing it" part came when we made the 20-minute round-trip to the bathroom.  I was just glad they had a bathroom.  (And thankful that Adam took me and Sandy in the middle of the night--what am I, five??  He was sweet, especially at 3:40 a.m.) 

My biggest problem was packing.  Usually I'm a good packer--I can put more than enough stuff in a small rolling bag and go.  I even traipsed around Europe for a semester with only a backpack.  Somewhere along the way, it went missing, and I was a loss as to what to pack stuff in.  (Vera Bradley bags just didn't quite seem appropriate...) 

Claire was out of town Friday, so I spent the night with my parents.  It's a good thing, too, because my mom helped me go from an Olive Garden bag (wherever that came from--we don't have one near us!) and three small bags  that wouldn't zip, into a more compact version that included a duffle bag.  We laughed all morning as I tried to gather my stuff.  This was going to be a bit out of my comfort zone.  :-)

Whenever we have a lot of stuff to pack and load up, my family always makes a reference to the Clampetts:

source

I've picked up this reference over the years, and used it with confidence.  However, I just Googled "Clampetts" this morning and discovered that they and Beverly Hillbilllies are one and the same.   I might be a smidge embarrassed, but that's right up there with referencing "Who's on First" and not really knowing it's origin, either.  (I did that once...just ask my college roommates.)  Lesson learned:  know your idioms (or whatever they're called...).

More pics to come of really camping!  I just wanted it to go on record that I camped, survived and actually enjoyed it.

Good for the Soul

{My flowers came with me to work.  They are so happy and make me smile!}

There are some things that are especially good for the soul. Things that make you stop and appreciate the moment.  Things that cause you to pause and be thankful. 

Yesterday Adam and I ran together for the first time in a month.  Adam's been hurt, and yesterday we got to jog again.  The weather was beautiful, and we braved the wind.  We talked as we ran about how we'd missed running alongside each other.  He commented how great it felt to run, and that it was good for the soul.  (So I'm taking his words and running with them.  No pun intended.)

I left Adam's last night quite full: a full tummy, a full heart and full hands (he gave me those pretty pink flowers).  :-) We fed the ducks at sunset and made friends with the locals who come to do this every day.  It was a day especially good for the soul.

After all that, I had a slumber party with my mom and my aunt.  We stayed up 'til almost midnight catching up.  It was some good girl time. (But we missed you, Anna!)  It, too, was good for the soul.

And Fridays are definitely good for the soul--anticipating the weekend ahead and the adventures to be had. 

Happy Friday, friends.