Finally Engaged!!

I AM SO EXCITED!!!! JOHN AND I GOT ENGAGED!!

Wow this has been a great weekend for me!! I am so giddy right now I am having a hard time thinking!! I HAVE to tell the whole story....

Well work was really really really I mean REALLY slow this week. OK, so it's Wednesday afternoon.....I was sitting around twiddling my thumbs all week watching the clock move so slowly and looking for something to do. So of course, right when I am the middle of helping the people who are training at our store, John calls me. Any other time would have been fine but of course he calls me when I was in the middle of something. Go figure. So we made the phone call short and quick, which left me unable to as him a million question because I am the type of person who has to know everything about everything...the who when what why how type of thing. So he simply asks me really quick if I wanted to go downtown tomorrow since I don't have school on Thursday mornings. I was thinking of going for a haircut but that was no big deal. I just told him sure I'd go, I would just have to be back by 1 for work. He said he was going to take the day off so we could go down by the museum campus to take pictures for a speech he was giving in his class on Thursday evening.

So, I was thinking, okay, he's taking off work to get me so we can go down there by the Planetarium...one of my favorite places (also the place I hinted around the past 5 years as a good place to get engaged, haha) so I had to let him go before I could ask a million questions since I was a little suspicious. I thought to myself, he works downtown, so why is he going to take the whole day off just to go down there and take pics?? So, the idea of getting engaged popped into my head. Then I thought, nah, that's crazy. It's wishful thinking. I was the one who suggested last weekend that he do his speech on the planetarium and beautiful museum campus (I wrote a paper on it once before) So, I thought it might happen if it was his idea, but it was mine, and maybe he really did need to go down there for inspiration and to take pictures for his visuals for the speech. So, I tried not to think about it. Since work was so slow, I just asked if I could have thursday afternoon off because I thought John and I would want to go out to lunch afterward, and I didn't want to rush to be back in the 'burbs by 1.

So guess what? I did not sleep at all on Wednesday night, just thinking about this possibly happening. And I guess John didn't sleep at all either. So....in the morning, we got ready to go, and the whole way there John did not put any music on in the car. We ALWAYS have music on. So I started thinking to myself, IS HE NERVOUS? MAYBE HE'S HIDING SOMETHING!?!? So I tried to pay close attention to his actions. After we got down there, I noticed him fidgeting a lot as we walked around and took the pics. He kept touching his pockets, holding his jacket kinda funny, looking in those pockets, walking behind or ahead of me...little things....so I STARTED to get a little nervous thinking it could be it. NAH....I still didn't want to think about it so I didn't get my hopes up if it did not happen.

So....we walked to my favorite spot by the planetarium, the large stones to the south of it that are set in a circle, almost like a large sundial. The view to the east was sooooo incredible! We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was 65-70 degrees, we didn't need a scarf or gloves, and the sun was shining so bright it was making the lake glisten like sparkling jewels. Very few people were around, and I decided to sit down on the large rock. I told John to sit down next to me, but he said he wanted to take my picture. So I made a cheesy smile and posed like a rock star, and then he told me he had to take an "after" picture. I was like, uhhhh...an after picture of what? Then he proceeded to get down on one knee and pulled out a little black box with a GORGEOUS antique style, 1 and 3/4 carat t.w. brilliant cut diamond ring with two smaller brilliant cut side stones, and a carved miligrain band encrusted with smaller pave diamonds. He asked me to marry him, and I said I would be more than honored to be his wife!!!!

I told myself I would never cry when it happened, but I couldn't help it, the tears started flowing!!! He then wanted that "after" pic, but I said NO WAY since my face was all red and puffy and my makeup was running from crying!! I was sooo happy! We called our families right away, and pretty much everyone knew but me. John asked my parents for their permission the night before! He's so cute and old-fashioned...I love it.

My best friend Kelly absolutely freaked out! I made a lot of visits to friends and family that night to show them the ring, while Johnny went off to class to do his speech.....the funny thing is he really did not need any pics...he wasn't allowed to use visuals at all! That little stinker. When he told the class he proposed to me there that very morning, they all clapped for him!

So I've been smiling so much that my face actually hurt by the time Friday night rolled around! We went out that night to celebrate with my family and friends. So needless to say, I had a great weekend. I posted the pics we took by the lake. The one with us and the blue sky in the background is one we took just a minute or two before it happened. I also put pics of my beautiful ring (by the way I think he did a great job- I absolutely love it!!) and other pics I had my dad take that I am using for my engagement announcements that I am making to email to everyone. There's quite a few pics so enjoy them!!!

:)

Let's start off by saying I hope everyone had a really nice Thanksgiving. Mine was good, quiet. Stayed home with the fam and just relaxed that night. John ended up going over by his family later on but I didn't go with him because I was tired and had to get up early for work on Friday...which is a whole other story. I'll get to that in a minute. Thursday night is my TV night...all of my favorite shows are on at the same time. I know they do that on purpose because they are all competing for ratings! I used to like looking forward to one show a couple times a week. Now after watching TV for 2-3 hours straight on one night I feel like a major couch potato. Then we have to tape one show on another TV and watch it later. CSI and Grey's Anatomy are at the same time so we always have to decide which one we want to watch. We all watch Ugly Betty, and my parent's like 'Til Death so we have to tape that too because they are on at the same time as well. But I am getting way off subject here. All I was going to say in the first place was that I am surprised they played all new episodes of those shows on Thanksgiving. Most people are out of town or with their families or eating dinner! But we always eat early, around 2, so our evenings are quiet.

So we just had a small group on Turkey day...my parents, sister and brother in law, my lovely fiancée John and my Aunt and her boyfriend. The boys and myself ended up falling asleep on the couch for a little bit after we ate. Johnny was tired because he played football all morning. He asked me if I wanted to play too but that was a big NO!!! First of all I hate football, and second I didn't want to do any physical work on my day off!! hahaha. Wednesday was so exhausting for me. I had presentations and tests in the morning and had to rush over to work so we can fill a million orders (OK I am exaggerating). Any holiday for us at work is a killer. We made over 120 arrangements for Thanksgiving. It was such a long day. I've known for awhile that I would have all this work due this week for finals but I've been so exhausted and stressed out that I haven't brought myself to do it until today. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. Sometimes I work better under pressure..if I know I don't HAVE to do it right away, I won't. I will wait until I don't have a choice.

It would have been nice to have off all day on Friday, but my boss and one of the other ladies who works there had the day off so they could do their Christmas shopping. Thanks but no thanks. I guess it was better to work and make money than to go out and spend it. Although, Friday was a nightmare at work, and maybe shopping would have been better! We started late, the phones were ringing, we ran out of stuff, we had problems with deliveries, it took us long to finish, I was in a bad mood, and I didn't eat lunch until 2:30 (and I get very cranky when I don't eat.) But then again, maybe it WAS better to be at work because I hate Christmas shopping. And NO I am not a grinch! I can't handle the crowds. Normally I have all of my shopping done before Thanksgiving, and of course I miss all of the good sales, but I don't care. I'd rather shop when the mall is empty than go when 50 million other people go just to get a "doorbuster"!!  When I am in big crowds I get kinda lightheaded, and an anxiety thing going on. I can't stand people running all around me, or cramming myself in an aisle or line, elbows to elbows. I unfortunately was not able to find the time to go shopping before turkey day, so now I am stuck having to shop with the rest of the world. However, my fam and I are talking about maybe not exchanging and giving to charity or just doing some kind of grab bag or something different. I think people forget about the true meaning of Christmas and get wrapped up (no pun intended) in the gift giving.

John and I haven't exchanged Christmas gifts in about 3 years. Since we just had our birthdays together, it was like Christmas for us. We give to charities in each others names, like the Greater Chicago Food Depository and Project Share through the Daily Southtown Newspaper.

I posted some pics of the "Twinkies" Josh and Joey, my sister's friend Jen's twin boys. They are 11 weeks old and the cutest things ever! We all went to see them on Tuesday night. I didn't get a chance to hold them though because I was honestly exhausted that day. Work was insane all week because the phone were ringing like crazy for the holiday orders. It was nice to just sit there and watch the babies though...they put a smile on my face. Also, seeing John with the babies was nice too. He loves kids and can't wait to have some of his own...he's going to be a great Dad one day, although he is going to have to wait awhile! We have to get past school and a wedding first. We still haven't set a wedding date yet but I think we are leaning more toward the June 28, 2009 option. I know it sounds really far away but that's only about 2.5 years or so. We were originally thinking October 4, 2008. However, I don't graduate until Feb '08, and John's done in June '08....I'm hoping that with our degrees we can get good jobs right away but we'd really have to save up to be ready that following October. If we wait until the following June we might be more financially stable so we can afford a house at that point. I don't know, we'll see! I am keeping in mind that June is warmer, and the 28th happens to be our dating anniversary, so it would be nice to get married on our 8 year anniversary!