Catch Up

I have been stuck for weeks trying to figure out how to even begin catching the blog up on recent events around here. I don't have many pictures to chronicle the happenings and I didn't want to bore everyone. What fun is a post without pictures?? So instead I'm deciding to just jump forward. I'll share some tid bits of what has been going on so we're all on the same page but they won't be as detailed as I'd originally planned. That would take too much time. Hopefully you can keep up with the changes. . .

I'm working again! I also changed my major. I'm no longer going to school for nursing. One day I'll get around to explaining my reasons but for now I'll leave it at that. I'm teaching preschool and will be majoring in Childhood Education. So far I am loving it! I'll start the first of my education classes this summer. I know - huge change. But I am really looking forward to what these changes will bring for our family.

Taylor is going to a new school now. She's actually going to the same school I teach at but we are in different classrooms. She's having a great time but I still miss her old teachers. Those women were amazing!

DJ has been hitting the books pretty hard lately. He's almost finished with the program he's in for work. His test is about a week away and even though he is nervous as ever I know he will do great!

In almost one month exactly I will be an Aunt again (at least if she comes on her due date that is!). We threw a baby shower for Jess this past weekend and it was great! I'll post pictures soon.

Other than those major changes in our lives things have been pretty normal around here. Returning to work was an adjustment for all of us but we've handled it really well. I'm teaching so close to home that I can come home on my lunch breaks and take care of odds and ends here. I really love the school and the people I work with too which always helps!

So now that everyone is all caught up I can get back to blogging like I used to! I'll post new pictures soon!

Back to the Books

Open notebooks, pencils, planners, class schedules, an entrance application and a bowl of chocolate chips . . . all covering my desk that was clean just the day before.

The Spring semester started yesterday and I already feel the pressure to be ahead in both classes. I am taking another math course this semester along with Anatomy and Physiology II. I got an 'A' in my Anatomy and Physiology class last semester and I plan to do the same this go 'round. This A&P course will be more trying. The lab kit I received has several animal organs that I am not particularly looking forward to touching. I do very well when it comes to handling things from a LIVE HUMAN body - not so much deceased animals.  

I stayed up late last night working on homework and by the time I finished I was too tired to really clean anything up so I woke up to find my desk covered with school stuff. I think this might be a constant this semester. The chocolate chips were just to cover my sweet tooth :o)

For the first few weeks of class my schedule is pretty jam packed. I am interviewing for a hospital volunteer position at the beginning of February and by mid February I am submitting my DSN nursing application. Wish me luck! If I get accepted I will be starting September 30th. There is a nursing program starting in July but I thought it would be better to wait until the fall for when Taylor is back in school so we can really enjoy our summer together. 

Taylor has already shown me that she will be my study partner for the next 15 weeks. Yesterday morning I was already in the office when she woke up and she came right in, sat down at her desk and asked if I could get her homework out too. I love that she loves to learn. I hope it stays with her through her early adult years!

So if my posting becomes few and far between it most likely means I have my head in a book . . . or less appealing, a fetal pig.

Our Engagement Story

To really tell our engagement story I have to take you all the way back to 1999 when I was 13 years old. I had the BIGGEST crush on DJ. A crush that began the very first time I saw him walking through the halls of our middle school and I knew I wanted him to be my boyfriend. In fact, just about every girl I knew felt the same way.  That summer I was lucky enough to have my very first date with DJ at Coors Field watching the Colorado Rockie's take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. I wish I could tell you it was a perfect date - just magical. But I can't. You see, that first date between us was horrible. I'd never been on a date. I had no idea what to say, how to act, what to do. So the entire game I sat there, staring at the field, not talking. This was the extent of our conversation:

"Do you want a drink?" - "No"

"Do you want a hot dog?" - "No"

"Are you having fun?" - "Yes"

We both laugh about it now because I honestly don't think I said more than 3 words to him the entire time. In fact, during the 7th inning stretch he went to the bathroom and thought about hopping on the bus and heading back home, just leaving me there. He was sweet enough to come back and finish the game with me. He's always joked that a baseball game is a horrible first date and all guys should avoid it and every time we go to a baseball game we joke about how bad out first date was. I'm not sure how I ever recovered him after that date either :o)

So fast forward 13 years. . . another date at Coors Field.

While it technically wasn't a date, we were going to another baseball game. Paul had told me he got tickets for the entire family and we were going to make it a family day so we all had to be there. Nothing about this seemed odd to me. DJ kept saying all week he wasn't sure if he was going to go. I just rolled my eyes and thought it wouldn't kill him to take a day off for family stuff since he had seemed to be super edgy the past few weeks. I've been talking about getting married almost nonstop. Almost to the point where I knew he was going to tell me to just shut up one day. To be honest, on our drive home Saturday night from Paul and Carrie's he asked me why Jess and I have been talking about the two of us getting married all the time. I told him I was just ready for it to happen already because it's already been 7 1/2 years and at this rate we'll be together another 7 before we ever get married. He told me talking about it all the time was not going to make it happen any sooner.

When we got to the game I was so excited when I realized the team we were playing that day was the Arizona Diamondbacks. When I pointed this out to DJ and he just laughed and said, "Our first date is all you ever talk about when we come". So we kept enjoying the game. Taylor got another ball given to her. It's her third one so I guess maybe the third time is a charm!

It was the 5th inning and if I'm really going to tell this story I need to say that I was a little irritated with DJ at this point. He seemed so tense, stressed and irritable. I just wanted him to lighten up and at least enjoy the day since we don't get many family days together. DJ was sitting on my right and the jumbo-tron was to my left. Out of nowhere DJ got very excited, pointed to the score board and said "hey, Look! Look!". As I looked over the first thing I saw was "Ann Griffin, Will You Marry Me? DJ". I was shocked. I just thought, "that's MY name!". When something shocks you this much you must lose your brain filter because I just blurted out, "NO YOU DID NOT!!". And when I turned to face DJ he was there on bended knee and said, "I think I've made you wait long enough. Will you marry me?". I was in so much shock that I couldn't even talk. I instantly started crying and shaking horribly. I managed to kiss him and mumble out "YES!" As he tried to put my new ring on my finger I was shaking so much that he just had to hold my hand in place.

Once my ring was on and we hugged he stood me up, had me turn to the left and said, "Now look who's here for you". Standing up, waving to us were my brother Joel and his girlfriend Ranee and our best friends Chad and Amanda. I was in disbelief. I couldn't have asked for anything more. We left our seats and met everyone to take pictures. (Thanks Gabe and Carrie!)

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better he added more! We were back in our seats after the 7th inning stretch and Dinger came running through the stands with a dozen red roses DJ had delivered to the stadium for me and a sign that read "She Said Yes!"

One of my favorite parts of the entire day was when Taylor told Joel "We're going to get married!!". (I'm having trouble not crying now!). As a girl you always wonder what your proposal will be like: if you'll cry, if he'll stumble over his words. I wouldn't change a thing about how he proposed to me. It was absolutely perfect in every way. I love my FIANCE!

 DJ was actually very thankful that certain things worked in his advantage. For the past 7 years I have been wearing a Tanzanite and Diamond ring he gave me for our first Christmas. I wore it on my ring finger until last Thursday when I got it cleaned and they told me the stone was loose and I shouldn't wear it. What a strange coincidence. He was wondering how he was going to get that ring of my finger and even thought if I ever took it off he'd sneak it away and tell me I lost it.

I was so happy all of these amazing people were there to help us celebrate:

(I'm just missing a picture of Paul and Carrie)

I'm so excited we are going to finally be married! Now the fun part of planning starts! :o)

I'm going to take a better picture of my ring later today and I'll be sure to post it very soon.

I can't help but stare at it!

September 23, 2012 was one of the best days of my life.

I Love You, DJ!



Attention Attention

I SAID YES!!!

After 7 1/2 years together, DJ and I are finally going to get married!

I'll share our engagement story tomorrow :o)

My First 10k

A while back I decided I wanted to start doing everything I've always wanted to but never tried - sort of like working on my bucket list while I'm still young enough to do it. 

So this year when emails started coming in about registering for the Bolder Boulder I knew I wanted to do it. Luckily, my friend Erin and her mom compete in it every year so I already had someone else willing to run it.

I kept telling myself I would start running to get myself prepared for my first 10k. But between school, work and DJ's crazy schedule I was never able to find time to go run by myself. Taylor and I would go on a 2 mile walk but the poor thing can't ride her bike fast enough for me to run.

Anyways, race day came and I was not prepared in the least. The night before we'd had a bunch of friends over for s'mores in the back yard. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep. On the way to the race Erin and I were talking about how much we'd trained for it. Her mom is a seasoned runner and we already knew that at 52 she'd be leaving us in the dust. Erin laughed when she said she hadn't really ran since St. Patricks Day. I laughed when I said I'd ran maybe 1/2 a mile to prepare for a 10k. I felt so out of my league among these well trained runners all around me.

As we started off I kept telling myself as long as Erin and I kept the same pace I couldn't stop to walk until she did. I was struggling but kept giving Erin the good ol' thumbs up that I was ok. Finally around the 3 mile mark she pulled out her head phones and said she was sorry but she had to walk. My exact response was "Thank God!". Apparently she was trying not to stop until I did.

The race itself was beautiful. I love Boulder. And the people cheering us on from in front of their houses were awesome. One house had a slip-n-slide along with a keg stand (we didn't partake in that), others were handing out chips, water, throwing water balloons or spraying us with their garden hose to help cool us down. My favorite was the house of guys holding out trays of bacon as we ran by. Yes, bacon.

I used my phone as my ipod so I was able to capture a couple pictures as well.

I was so happy to see this sign and know I was almost done. My legs felt like jello and running up all those hills had been killer. WAY TO GO! Almost there. . . but let me tell you, taking a picture while running is not very easy.

I loved that at the end of the race you ran into the CU stadium and there were hundreds of people in the stands waiting for their friends/family to cross the finish line. But what I also loved that on your way out of the stadium they handed you an orange, a snack pack and a beer.

For not training or being a runner I think we did pretty good. Final finish time was 1:11:55. I have a lot of work laid out ahead of me to improve my time. . . and on the way home Erin talked me into do a half marathon with her next May in Lincoln NE. Anyone else up for a challenge?

26

This year I wanted my birthday to be very low key. Between work, school, projects around the house, chasing after Taylor and every other daily obstacle life has thrown at my lately I haven't had a day 'off' in a long time.  

I told DJ I wanted to wake up slowly, enjoy a cup of coffee while catching up on some reading (blogs, emails etc), just spend the day hanging out since the weather was supposed to be crummy, and eat really good Italian food. So we did just that.

The night before we'd had a late night out with some friends so we were all pretty tired. There's nothing better than lounging around the house knowing you can take nap. After we were all rested we took Taylor to see the movie The Lorax. It was so cute! Love Dr. Seuss.

One of the best parts of the whole day was driving down to a fabulous Italian restaurant in the Highlands - Pasquini's. Really, what beats homemade Italian food?   

When we got home Taylor decided I needed a birthday makeover and she felt very inclined to do my hair for me. She made me sit down and told me she was Dana - a dear friend of mine who has done my hair for about 8 years now.

 Don't worry. The flat iron isn't on. . .

 Don't forget you need product in your hair too . . .

DJ and Taylor had made me a cake in the morning and Taylor kept telling me all day "Don't look at your cake Mom! It's a staprise!!". This was so funny because I was sitting all of 3 feet away while they baked it.

It's almost impossible to get her to smile normal anymore . . . But didn't she do a fabulous job on my hair ??

Our little photographer helped out too . . .

 And just for good measure. . . DJ couldn't stop laughing after this one.

Here's to another fabulous year!