Happy Birthday Parker!

Happy Birthday to my sweet future husband!!

I love you babe!

Little Black Dress Fairy

You can imagine my delight to come home to my apartment and find this:
Who left this little black dress on my bed? The Little Black Dress Fairy? I don't know... So I looked at the tag. My size. From Express. Hello! We're we meant to be little dress? So I tried it on. Perfect. I do believe it was meant to be. Gorgeous. Who is this Little Black Dress Fairy and where did she come from? If you find her, please tell her "Thank You" and that I love her - VERY.VERY.MUCH. Can I please keep it?

Mom is doing much better today than on Friday - we even went to my Aunt Kay's for a yummy lunch and she did very good. (How's that for a smooth transition to a new subject? I know, I know, you envy my skills...)

And... We have a date! June 25, 2011! Hooray! Parker & I met with one of our pastors today and she was able to answer our questions and book our church for us! We are very excited... now we just wait 1 year and 9 mths. HAHA! We're getting married!!!

How was your weekend? Did a dress fairy stop by your place?

Mom's Gamma Knife Procedure

Thanks for the love, support, and prayers for today.

The Gamma Knife procedure went well overall today. However, it was worse (pain wise) than Mom expected. It was also very, very long. We got to the hospital this morning at 6 am.... and we got back home at 5:30 pm. First they inserted 4 pins into her head with the points touching her skull in 4 corners. The brace was used to keep her head still during the procedure. She then had an MRI so they could locate exactly the size and locations of the tumors. Then for several hours the team of doctors prepared a plan of attack. The procedure itself lasted about 3 1/2 hours. During that time they "lazor beamed" (I'm not a medical expert and I don't pretend to know the correct terms...) the tumors 13 times (I think?). Following the procedure, they removed the brace and pins, which caused intense pressure in her head giving her a tremendous headache as you can imagine. We are now home and she is laying as still as possible. I had no idea it would be like this - everyone made it seem like it would be a breeze.

What a day! (I got a whopping 3 hours of sleep this morning after staying up until 2 am writing a paper and getting up at 5 am to go to the hospital!) Again, thanks for your prayers and support and love! I'll keep you updated!

Boy do I love a good...

... political cartoon.

There is something about sarcasm and politics and anti-political correctness all rolled into one cartoon. I love deciphering the meanings and intentions of cartoons. Go ahead... call me a nerd, I don't care.

In my Teaching Fellows class today, a presenter showed this cartoon, and I thought it was pretty good.
This one has some relevance for the day too...

But, if you're going to be interested in political cartoons... you gotta know about "Join, or die." In my AP US History class in high school, this was a primary document on a DBQ (Document Based Question - basically you take several documents and incorporate them into an argument that answers a prompt). Our whole class used this cartoon in our argument.... but we used it in the wrong context. So... because Ms. Griffin was the most awesome teacher ever - she made sure that we would never forget the meaning of this cartoon.

I think the whole class was on her "Wall of Shame" that day... And, as a result, I will never forget the meaning, nor will I use it incorrectly in support of an argument, ever again.... I will also make sure that my future US history classes know about it too. Haha

Did you have something that you'll always remember because your teacher made sure of it (and by made sure of it, I mean drilled it into your noggin' until you felt stupid for not knowing it in the first place)... man those are the good teachers!

"Not Me" Monday

Welcome to "Not Me" Monday, a blog carnival started by Mckmama. Go to her blog to read about all the embarassing things she & others didn't do.

I did not spend Saturday with my fiance at the miserably hot ECU vs. UNC football game... in the Pirate section. And, when Carolina won, I definitely did not snicker at all the ECU fans who drove 2 hours to sit in the stinkin' heat, squished together, just to see their team lose to the team they hate most. I would not make fun of their situation like that, that would be terrible.

I also did lots of homework and studying this weekend, which means I did not make these stinkin' cute invitations for Katherine's bachelorette party. I definitely made up that cute poem at the top, because I did not find a similar poem online that I could copy.

And since I did not make this invitation, I did not waste several hours playing around online finding cute fonts to download. And since I did not find any cute fonts, I did not waste more time adding some spice to my blog post and sidebar titles with said cute fonts.

Last Thursday night my roomates/neighbors and I did not spend the night in our PJs watching Tarzan and eating peanut butter and oreos. Hello? We're in college. We are way past Disney movies... we so go out on Thursday nights and do college student things.

And I definitely would not pictures of the fun we were having.

Because we're too cool for that.

What did you not do?

Bloggy break

Hey y'all. I'm back from my blogging break - well, it wasn't an intentional break, but I've been super busy!

So, there's lots to update on.

1. My Granddaddy (mom's dad) has been in the hospital - he was bleeding internally from ulcers (& aspirin for his heart) and he had several heart attacks. He had several blood transfusions and they treated his heart attacks medically. He is doing much better, but still in the hospital for now. Hopefully he'll go home soon on a strict diet & Nexium.

2. Weston had his check up appointment at UNC Hospitals on Wednesday and everything looks great - he's growing and active, and the doctor thinks he's good to go. The pancreatitis was most likely a result of the extended Prednisone intake from when he had walking pneumonia.

3. Mom had her scan on Monday and met with her radiologist, oncologist, and neurosurgeon today. Her tumors have shrunk in half and she will be having the Gamma Knife procedure next Friday. It's like a 4 hour procedure. The neurosurgeon is 80% sure he can get to the 3 tumors in one procedure, if not she'll have it again in 2-3 weeks. 6 weeks after the procedure, she'll have another scan to see how it worked. We hoped they would be smaller, but her doctors are pleased about the shrinking and we are thankful for the step forward towards a cure!

So... please continue to pray for our family as we work for God's glory!

Parker, my fiance (I love saying that), is coming to Chapel Hill this weekend for the UNC vs. ECU game! Get pumped! Go Heels!!!

Green Punch

Because I've told a bunch of people that I'd let them know the punch recipe that I used at Candice's shower (pink & green themed) and Katherine's shower (purple & green themed)...

What you need:
2 packages of lemon-lime KoolAid mix
1 pound of sugar
2 quarts of water
1 large can of pineapple juice
1 bottle of Ginger Ale

What you do:
1. Boil the water in a large pot and dissolve the sugar. Then dissolve the KoolAid mix.
2. Add the large can of pineapple juice.
3. Freeze until slushy.
4. Add the Ginger Ale to punch bowl when serving.

*You could also make this the day of and put crushed ice in the bowl to cool it off if you need to

Serves: At least 40...

Enjoy!

The Proposal

Parker & I had planned to go to the beach with his family for Labor Day, so on Saturday afternoon, we drove down to the beach. I thought this was going to be a normal weekend, especially since I had no idea that Parker had the ring and had asked my dad for permission to marry me.

So, we got to the beach and Mrs. Lydia said that Jacob & Candice had gone down to walk on the beach. Parker called Jacob to say that we were there, and Jacob told him that he and Candice had seen a man catch a shark and we should come down and see it... or so I thought. Mrs. Lydia even said "Here, take my camera to take a picture of the shark." So we start walking down to the beach and it dawned on me how ridiculous it was that a man had caught a shark on the beach. I asked Parker about it, and he smoothly replied, "Jacob's caught sharks before" but I thought, "That was when the Triple S pier was there." Parker just shrugged and said "We'll see."

Meanwhile.... Jacob,

And Candice,
were getting ready for us to come down. Candice wrote a message in the sand for us and then they hid behind the dunes...


[hahaha] They did see dolphins while they were waiting for us!

So we walked down the beach, looking for Candice & Jacob, and the shark. The thought crossed my mind, "What if he is going to propose?" but I dismissed the idea because I didn't want to be disappointed if he didn't. So we walked...

Then, Parker bent down to pick up something in the sand, and when he bent down I saw Jacob, in a bright purple shirt (they had been to the ECU game) hiding in the dunes. I started giggling because I knew what was going on.

So, we kept on walking... and walking... and we never found the message they wrote for us. So finally, Parker just wrote in the sand, "Will you marry me?" and got down on one knee and proposed. (This is the original message that Candice showed us after the fact)

Of course, I said yes and we laughed and hugged.

And Candice came running out of the brush with a camera to take pictures and give us hugs.

And I kept laughing about the shark. So cute! :) I love it!

And, I love my ring. It is so gorgeous and I can't stop looking at it!

And I am crazy excited to marry my best friend!!!

Apparently, Parker asked my dad on Tuesday if he could have permission to marry me. My dad replied, "Yeah, that'll be fine." So much like my Dad!

We went back to the condo and of course Parker's parents knew he was going to propose and they were excited. I called my mom (3 times) before I got in touch with her and she was so excited that she cried, and then yelled at my Dad for not telling her. [haha]

I can't believe it! We're finally engaged!

We're Engaged!!!!

Details to come.... but Parker proposed last night on the beach...


And I said yes!

::cue "At Last":: HAHAHAHA! :) We're so excited!!

Showers, Showers, Showers

When I made a New Year's Resolution to host showers, parties, etc, I did not know how many I would be hosting throughout the year! First, I started with my cousin Rebecca's baby shower. I "co-hosted" with my mom, cousin Amanda, and a friend of Rebecca's. It was HUGE - like 100 people huge (she was having triplets, she needed a lot).

We did "Three Peas in a Pod" theme as you can tell by the cake.

I did a fruit mound... the pineapple opened so you could yogurt dip.

Here is the new mom:

Then... I through my Dad a surpise birthday party, which I posted about here.

Then, I gave Candice a bridal shower with the help of a family friend. You saw her invitations here (which by the way, a friend of mine's mom used the tutorial to make shower invitations for a shower she was hosting! They looked so good! How cool is that?)

There's the fruit mound again... see what I mean about the dip in the pineapple?

Here is the cake... well part of it. There was a green square tier on top of the pink, but we cut it up before I got a picture. The daisy was on top. It was really cute!

Here is Mrs. Lydia (Parker's mom) and Mrs. Candy (co-host)

And of course... the bride, Candice with Mrs. Maxine from the river.

The most recent shower was at my apartment for my friend and former roomate, Katherine. You saw her invitations here (her mom is the one who used the tutorial!). Amanda, another friend and roomate and fellow bridesmaid co-hosted.

Here are Amanda and I guarding the gifts (ha, just kidding!)

And of course, the bride-to-be, Katherine!

I LOVE giving showers and making invitations and entertaining! I will be helping my Aunt Kay and Mom give my cousin Melissa an afternoon tea/bridal shower next month! How are your New Year's Resolutions turning out?