pigs flying

My

(outdoor loving

gun slinging

beer guzzling *in a former life*
car obsessing

bad ass soldier)

fiance picked up his phone and voted for his favorite dancer on So You Think You Can Dance last night.

The world is ending folks, take cover.

Spotted!

I saw a motorcade today. Not just any motorcade, but one that included two of my favorite people, Rachel and Brian. They were just starting their big exam that includes navigating four specific routes (with several possible roles to play) in RUSH HOUR traffic. From what Brian tells me, this is the one exam that most people remediate (i.e. fail and have to do over). I haven't stopped thinking about them all morning long. Good luck you guys!

busy busy

Well, after a day or two of engage(ed) bliss, reality set in! There has been so much to do, and I've spent most of my time bawling my eyes out. That's really my emotion of choice. If i'm happy, I cry. If I'm sad, I cry. If I'm stressed, I cry. You get the idea. Waterworks central. Here's what I've been up to since my last post.

Work:
*I've announced to my peeps that I'll be leaving as of August 5. I work with so many amazing people, it's so hard to say goodbye. Everyone has been so sweet to me, saying how much I'm going to be missed and how no one can take my place. I'm doing my best to make lots of mistakes now so that whoever does take my place doesn't have such a high expectations to meet. I kid.
*I've been ridding my drawers and electronic files of things that I don't need anymore. I have a LOT of crap. It's a long tedious process. I hate it.
*Trying to write a list of things that I do is surprisingly more difficult than I thought it would be. Surely I do more than just accept meeting requests right?!

Moving:
*I'm going through all of the stuff I've stored in our basement. I've gotten rid of 4 bins worth of stuff and discovered I have purchased about 45 plastic cups in the last 7 years. My aversion to glassware has never been more apparent.
*Does anyone want to buy my 6 foot lovesac? You have to move it...
*I have SO MUCH STUFF
*I found someone to take over my lease. Big load off my shoulders.
*I've decided to rent an apartment in Brian's complex until we get married. I don't know the area so I figure I might as well be close to the one thing I DO know. (Holly, there's still a possibility we'll be neighbors. We'll be spending our weekends trying to figure out exactly where we want to settle down. I have a feeling it's NOT going to be in the complex we'll start out in.)
*Every time I drive by any of the monuments, I cry. Houston has some big shoes to fill. I LOVE this place and I DON'T want to leave it.
*I'm trying to think of all of the things I want to do before I leave and I can't think of anything. Really bad timing for my mind to go blank. If you have any ideas, please share!

Wedding:
*We picked a date and it's not next spring.
*We're getting married November 14 in Salt Lake. This year, not next. I've always wanted to get married in the fall.
*We've found a venue for the festivities (Joseph Smith Memorial Building)
*It will be a very intimate gathering. (I hate big crowds!)
*I've decided on a color palette
*I think I've found my dress
*If I continue to have meltdowns (as I am prone to do), Brian might just pull the plug on the whole thing (The wedding...not marrying me. He's agreed to take me meltdowns and all). Cross your fingers that I'll be able to hold my shiz together. (sorry mom for the almost swear)
*My sis will be taking our engagement photos this weekend. What should we wear?
*I started our wedding website. It's mostly ready for public view
*Apparently I don't need two grapefruit spoons? Need to revisit our registries...

Ultimate Update

I know, I know, I've let you all down. You've been asking for an update and I just haven't delivered. Well the time has come. Are you ready for this, I mean REALLY ready for this? Are you sitting down? You might want to sit down. Don't worry, I'll wait.

As you know, I went down to Texas over the 4th of July to meet Brian's family. We had a great time down in Galveston, despite the wall of humidity, oppressively hot temperatures and the bugs that didn't leave even an inch of me untouched. His family is so so great. If you've met Brian you know that he's just the nicest guy in the world, and that quality runs in the family. We had a great weekend walking on the beach avoiding jellyfish and looking for sharks teeth, checking out homes for sale (his parents are selling their home in Arlington and settling down in Galveston), enjoying the Texas sized fireworks and just having a good time. It was a fun weekend. I didn't take many pictures, though, but check out how Brian beat the heat, or rather the sweat:

Quite the fashion statement!

We've been enjoying DC since then. As you know we checked out the Pentagon Memorial a few nights ago and then last night we went to the Jefferson Memorial. You might know this about me already, but I absolutely love going to the monuments at night. When people come to visit me, the first thing I do is take them around the monument loop. There's just something so majestic about them all lit up, especially on a perfectly warm evening such as last night. When we walked up to the monument, Brian took me to a little quiet area instead of going up the stairs. He excused himself for a minute and disappeared into the bushes. When he came back he was holding a rose in one hand an a ring in the other. He said some very lovely things, got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. I of course said yes! We don't have a date set, but it will be sometime next spring.

Post-proposal

Creepy hand/reference shot...I love this place!

spreading the news

Please excuse the elephant fingers and imagine your eyes hurting from all of the sparkles. Isn't it pretty? It's EXACTLY what I wanted!

If that wasn't enough for you, the excitement doesn't end there. Knowing that Brian would be moving to Houston in August and knowing that there was no way I would be able to handle any more long distance dating, I asked my performance manager to put a bug in the ear of my company's Houston office in case any of their admin assistant positions became available. I really wasn't expecting much, there aren't very many positions period, let alone open ones, so I was surprised to get a call a few weeks ago letting me know that there was a need. I interviewed for the job and found out last week that I got it. So the next three and a half weeks will be filled with packing and wrapping up my life here in DC and moving to Houston to start a new chapter. Being someone who doesn't handle change well, to say I'm freaking out is an understatement. I've spent the last 7 years of my life in DC. I love it, it's one of my favorite places in the world, I've met so many amazing people, and it's all coming to an end. There are still so many things to do here, but it's time to go. I'm super sad about it, but I know it's the right move.

So to recap:

1. Texas is hot, but his family is great
2. I'm engaged!!!
3. Texas here I come!

Can you even handle it?!
What things do I need to do in DC before I leave?
Do you have any friends in Houston that would like to be my friend?

Pentagon Memorial

Sorry Mel, Trish and everyone else who might be on pins and needles wondering how Texas went, but this post has nothing to do with my visit. I will get to that at some point, but in the meantime I wanted to talk to you about the Pentagon Memorial. The memorial is set up in a large space right next to the Pentagon (I would like to say on the same side that was hit?). There are 184 benches engraved with the name of a victim and are arranged by the year they were born, ranging from 1931 to 1998. I can't even begin to describe how amazing this memorial is. Really, I wish there was no need for such a thing, but sadly there is, and this is such a beautiful way to honor and remember those that died both in the Pentagon and the plane that hit it on September 11, 2001.

The names engraved in the metal below the bench indicate other family members who also died in the attack.

The benches face one of two directions, those with the nameplate facing the Pentagon were in the Pentagon when the plane hit, those with a nameplate facing the other direction represent those who were in the plane.

If you ever find yourself in the DC area, please take the time to visit.

slacking

It has come to my attention that I have not updated this blog with anything of substance in quite a while. Since Brian moved back to DC a few weeks ago, I really haven't spent much time at my computer (other than while I'm at work, and I'm suppose to be doing work there anyway). I can't begin to tell you how nice it is not to have to drive an hour and a half to see him! We haven't really been doing much worthy of blogging, but here are a few of the photos I've taken of our exploits:

Brian and Chuck, 2/3 of the Dream Team (not pictured, Will):

We went camping last weekend and I took lots of pictures of the sprawling countryside as we cruised on by.

Our (or rather my) main camping activity, other than making s'mores with Reeces Peanut Butter Cups, was taking pictures of our surroundings through Brian's night vision monocular. Check em out:









And finally, a self portrait (wow, I look wasted!):


This weekend we're off to Galveston, Texas to celebrate the 4th of July. Brian hasn't seen his family since January and I haven't ever seen them before. It will be fun...well except for the weather. I hear it's been in the 100's lately. Yuck!

Hope you all have a great holiday!

Beautification

A while back I won a sample skinny for my blog from Knuckleheaders on the blog Give Away Today. If you're reading this in an rss feeder, click on over and check it out. I think it's fabulous!

Flattened

Forget a painting in a canvas, THIS is my kind of art!