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The One With The Engagement Story

I have a lot of friends wanting details on my very exciting news I had yesterday, and this seems the easiest way to get a story AND pictures in one spot!

James and I have been dating 9 months now, and had made the decision a few months ago that we were going to live together soon. The time when his lease was going to be up on his 1 bedroom apartment coincided with our 1-year dating anniversary, and after much discussion we decided we didn't want to live an hour apart for another whole year. So we decided that when it came closer to that time, we'd find a bigger place in Lexington..one with enough bedrooms for everyone, and move in together. We kept that decision mostly private for the last few months and just continued to enjoy life. Then, very recently, we started talking about marriage and how we *could* just go ahead and get married if we were going to be living together anyway...I mean, I'm not going to move myself and my children an hour away from our family and move in with a man I just *sort of* love. So we talked about it some, and talked with family about it (got my dad's blessing, teeheee). But then there was still no official proposal. I knew it would be coming soon because we had imagined a late summer wedding.

James said he wanted to go on an overnight date on Saturday and I asked Tabatha to watch the kids. We drove to Lexington and he headed for UK's campus. While he teaches English at UK, I knew we weren't going to get something from his office. The only place we regularly go to at UK is the arboretum. We love to walk around the trails and lay in the grass to cloud watch.

I looked at the temperature reading in his car and it read 95 degrees Fahrenheit. I immediately regretted wearing jeans. He pulled a bag out of the trunk and we walked to our favorite spot that we always cloud watch at. He reached in his bag and pulled out a blanket which he spread on the ground. Out of his pocket came his cell phone. He pressed play and Just Breathe by Pearl Jam (our song) started playing. He got down on one knee said a lot of sweet things that I'll keep just for me, but let's just say I was crying by the time he got around to the big question. He reached behind him and pulled something out of the bag. It was a box from our favorite dessert spot, Gigi's Cupcakes.



When we go there, I usually get the tiramisu cupcake. We go there often enough that James said when he went alone one day, they asked where his girlfriend was! :) But what he pulled out of the box was their wedding cupcake! Sitting half-melted into the 4" of frosting was a wedding ring. (not in this photo because I took these photos after the fact)



I pulled it out of the frosting and put it in my mouth (LOL!) After it was clean, I handed it back to him and he slid it on my finger.

I joined him on the blanket and hugged him, even though it was 95 degrees out and we were both miserably hot. About 2 minutes later he said to me, "Not trying to ruin the moment but I still haven't gotten an answer."--to which, I of course replied, "Yes!"



After the ring was extracted, we had a perfectly good cupcake there waiting for us. We hadn't had dinner yet and I asked him if we should eat it. His reply was, "Of course we can eat dessert before dinner...we are grown-ups afterall!" He decided we needed practice for the wedding and that he was going to smash cupcake in my face:



But what is good for the goose is good for the gander.



Here are a few more pics I took after the fact:





We hung out for awhile, laying on the blanket and cloud watching until we decided it was too hot to go on...we still had a half a mile walk back to the car. The rest of our evening consisted of dinner at Applebee's (not exactly fine dining but it's what I wanted and it was delish!), a movie (Knight and Day---GREAT flick!), and a moonlight swim in the pool at midnight (so romantic!). It really was a fairy tale kind of day--thanks for sharing it with me!

Every photo I tried to take yesterday of the ring came out a bit washed out...I'm guessing because of my white, white hand LOL. So here is a better photo I got today for those who asked:



We're planning a small ceremony around Labor Day weekend here at the house...just a few friends and family, with my uncle (a minister) marrying us...a casual, romantic affair :) Thank you SO SO MUCH for all the well-wishes and congratulations, friends! When I logged into Facebook this morning I had 99 notifications LOL! I'm so happy to share this news with my friends and family. I'm a very lucky, happy girl.

17,531 hours and counting!

What is it about our children's birthdays that make us sentimental? Including their birth days, I've experienced 17 birthdays between my 3 children now. Every one of them leaves me sad that the time has gone by so fast, and excited for their futures all at the same time. In the last few years since I've been blogging, my sentimental walk down memory lane has been accompanied with a sappy blog post and photos. This one is no different :P

2 years ago I was about to pop with the biggest of my 3 children. When Naomi was born a month early, she was only 5 lbs. But Parker was born almost a month early and there was no way he was going to be a tiny baby! :)



The circumstances surrounding my birth were actually a bit stressful and I don't like to dwell on all of the details, but suffice it to say it was a sigh of relief to get in the operating room and get ready to meet my bubby! After being hospitalized for a few days prior, my doctor took Parker the day I turned 37 weeks due to a nasty spike in blood pressure.



He had to spend a few days in the NICU because of low blood sugar. Naomi had the same problem; they even stayed in the same isolette and had some of the same nurses!



Of course the next year flew by with all of the amazing milestones that the first year brings. And before we knew it, Parker was enjoying his first birthday donut! In a tradition borrowed from my dear friend Ashlee, we give the kids a birthday donut on their special day and the cake waits for the party day. They get to open one present on their big day and the rest waits for their party.



Parker has always been a happy rambunctious boy and 1 was no different. He made a very fun one-year-old! He was very active and smart and inquisitive. And SO sweet. He gives the sweetest snuggles and kisses!



And while I said Parker's first year of life flew by, I'd be lying if I said the last year has. Thanks to a crazy year of personal highs and lows, the last year with my kiddos has felt like much longer...but in a good way! Parker is a busy, fun two-year-old!

Yesterday morning he got to experience his second annual birthday donut!



Though, I think he was a bit apprehensive about the fire.



Once the candles were removed, he made pretty quick work of demolishing his treat!


And then it was time for the presents!






At 2, Parker is a good sleeper, a good eater and an all-around good boy. He's as sweet as ever, very curious about how things work, and absolutely loves phones. He fights with Naomi like siblings do, and he tries to imitate almost everything anyone says. He is in 2 hours of speech therapy a week, is healthy except for some ear problems, and is a VERY big boy! I'm a very lucky mom. Happy Birthday, big boy! :)

The One With Snack Time

What is it with kids and snacks? Naomi loves bananas and one day, unbeknownst to me, ate 5. She was at Tab's in the morning and ate 3, and ate 2 in the afternoon with me. I would never have allowed 5 but let's just say the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing LOL!

Both my kids love fruit snacks but I have a hard time reconciling that in my head as a healthy snack. They enjoy yogurt and we go through plenty of Gogurt in this house. But other snacks just...well they fail. I won't give them chips and cookies and stuff (though they'd love it). They are both predisposed to being overweight (between my family genes and their father's) and they get plenty of junk like that from special treats out, so I don't buy it for the house.

My last attempt at fruit was spit out on the plate. It was canteloupe. I suppose I'll just have to keep trying. Sometimes they like grapes. What is up with that? How do you *sometimes* like a food?


So yesterday, I fooled them. I nonchalantly handed a blueberry Nutri-grain bar to Parker (because he'll eat anything) and then acted like I wasn't going to give Naomi one. Well of course she got jealous and wanted one. So I gave her one, letting her think it was her idea. Then because Parker insists on two-fisting every snack, he wanted a second. He ate half of each (go figure). Naomi ate her whole first one and wanted a second. Which she ate one bite of.

Hey, I'll take it.

And their newest snack LOVE?

Pretzels are an idea I can get behind...so I'm glad they both like them. I give them a 3 oz dixie cup filled with the sticks and they run around the house with them. I'd love to hear your favorite toddler and preschooler snack ideas! Because mama always needs new ideas! :)

The One With The New Adoption

I name my electronics. Mnemonically.

I have two Toshiba laptops. When I got the second one, had it been a Dell or another brand, I would have referred to them as such. But since they were both Genus:laptop Species:Toshiba, I was kind of screwed. I spent a whole week calling them the old laptop and the new laptop before I figured out a solution. I named them Norah (N for New) and Olivia (O for Old).

Well of course it didn't stop there.

Shortly thereafter my television broke. It was an old CRT and I'd been eyeing the flat-paneled ones for quite awhile so I found an RCA on sale and adopted her, and named her Ruby. (R for RCA)

Well this weekend Olivia started having problems with her charging jack and I ordered her a new part. She is going to have to go completely under for surgery with surgeon Tim and be sautered back together. I got to worrying about the stability of my little two-computer family. What if Olivia didn't make it back from the surgery? What if the part doesn't work and (covers Norah's speakers while I whisper to you) she needs a new motherboard?

I know it seems strange...you're wondering why I need so many computers. Well I use them for backup. I store my files in multiple places. Nathan uses the computer. Naomi even has gotten to the age where she likes to use the computer (some).

I talked to Tim, and asked him if he knew anybody. Tim is my sister's boyfriend, for those who don't know, and he works on computers. He always knows someone who has a computer for sale. Tim knows how to restore them and make them shiny and new. He of course, did know someone. Two phone calls, three hours, and one trip to the next town over later, I had a new *desktop* in my apartment! I know, I know! I'm not really a desktop kind of girl. They are bulky. But they are sturdy. It's not exactly a workhorse. 2 gigs of ram, 320 mb hd, and the monitor was icky big, and the keyboard was icky broken. Paid $100 for basically just the tower, dropped $40 on a new wireless mouse/keyboard/speakers set, and hooked the baby up to my TV! It's the best kind of recycling because the computer has found a new home. Like adopting a puppy instead of going to the pet store. Adopting a computer instead of going to Office Depot. Though, they do really love me at Office Depot.

Anyway, I named her Delilah. (D for Desktop). She's hooked up to Ruby (R for RCA). We're one big happy family but we like it that way.

The One With The Time Warp

This is my second blog post in one day.

Umm, sort of.

Remember in my last blog post...the one I published this morning...I said I had sat down to write it several times but never finished?

Well when I went to finally write it this morning, I just edited one of my tries, so upon completion, it published with a date of two months ago. Whoops!
Well, that's a bit anti-climactic. So, ever a stubborn chick, I'm blogging again, darnit.

Check out the layout I did this morning. It was like a creative high. Best feeling in the world, I tell ya!



All by Shawna Clingerman:

I Heart Mommy
New on 4/17 @SSD:
Hugantic Frames
Finish Line Alpha
Metal Bits
Template by Angel Filter

And now...I'm going to go pick up the same toys for the 40th time today. Because I clearly have nothing better to do. Have a great weekend, friends!

Bad Blogger! Bad, Bad Blogger!

I've been a very bad blogger! Life had been busy and exciting, I just haven't taken the time to blog about it! I'm going to try to creep back into it. I've sat down several times to compose an update. Even started one and saved in progress a few times. But ultimately here I sit, dusting the debris off of my blogger dashboard, eight weeks out, wondering what to write.

I realize that since I have posted, I have TEN new Project 365 layouts completed. That is 70 days of mundane and not-so mundane details of my life. Here are some:






There. Do you feel all caught up on me and mine?

No. Of course you don't!

So, here are some more!



Okay, so it really doesn't help you get much of a feel for what has been going on in my life. But it's the best I've got. I'm not really going to give you a play-by-play of the last two months. It would be quite boring for both you and me. At best this serves as proof that I've been alive and happy and just too darned distracted to meander on over here to my blog! It is my goal to not neglect ye olde bloggie anymore. I miss it when I do :)

So, enough about me. What's new with you?

The One With Karma

Do you believe in karma?

One of my favorite sayings is that you don't have to believe in karma for it to happen to you.

Last night, I James and I met at a halfway point between the college he teaches at on Tuesday afternoons and where I live. The town doesn't have a lot there but we enjoyed Cracker Barrel and afterward were sitting in his car for a few minutes chatting, about to part ways. When I saw this strange man hovering near my car.

I then watched him checking handles at various cars across the way from us. James and I sat there, stunned. Then he managed to get into a car and was rifling around. That's when we went back into the Cracker Barrel and got the manager. They called the police but they were unsuccessful in apprehending him. At least they were able to scare him off though.

I feel bad that they didn't catch him but I'm glad he at least was stopped for the time being. I really think that if it were my car he had been rifling through, and someone else was witnessing it, that they would have done the same thing as me. I hope so, at least. Maybe I stopped someone's things from getting stolen last night, and that's a good feeling--doing a good thing and hoping that karma noticed ;)

And...onwards and upwards...the winner of my random drawing yesterday...
So, SidebySide, you'll receive a $5 Gift Card to Shawna Clingerman's shoppe...congrats! (and congrats on all those photos too!)

I have my 5 week post op appointment this morning so I'm outta here...will chat you bloggers up tomorrow! :)

The One With 200 Posts!

So this is my 200th post, bloggers! I can't believe it has been a year! This blog has seen me through a lot of things. Here's my first post. It really wasn't all that interesting. This was was interesting though! Man, I was mad! Oh and then there was this one time that my blog was linked to this blog, which was funny and interesting. Do you remember that post? Ahhh, the fun.

I've also learned so much about myself through the old Sweet Shoppe FOBTY quizzes and other random stuff. The recap is:

* I am hip-hop music. (w.... t.....h.)
* My spelling is excellent
* I have a Midland American accent
* I could be a vampire if I had to
* I am 80% real (i beg to differ)
* I type 84 wpm

* I am terrible at naming crayola crayon colors

Now if that random mashup of crap isn't reason enough to blog daily, I don't know what is!

What is fun about blogging IS the longevity of it, the day after day stuff. It is a feeling of accomplishment knowing that I've stuck with it!

I'd like you to tell me about something you've accomplished, or stuck with for a while. Tomorrow, one lucky winner from my comments section will win a $5 gift card to
Shawna Clingerman's shoppe at Sweet Shoppe Designs!

So tell me about it and give yourself a pat on the back while you're at it! I'll be back tomorrow with our winner!

The One With The Big Question

tomorrow will be my 200th blog post, friends! What should I do? I was thinking maybe I could snag a gift card from Bella Gypsy's store...maybe even snag one from a friend, to give away here tomorrow? 200 posts seems like a lot of verbal runoff to not celebrate in some way, shape, or form.

While you're thinking, let me get caught up on my Project 365 photos! I was so busy from Wednesday on last week I didn't have time!



27/365. Dry bed. In the great indoor precipitation disaster, 50 sq. feet of carpet and 1/2 of my king-sized bed were soaked...during my nightly call from James, I explained the aquatic catastrophe. He offered refuge and a dry bed...which honestly could have been found a little closer than a 1-hour drive, but I couldn't pass up the chance for a little spontaneity and a late-night impromptu trip to the 1222 for a mid-week sleepover.



28/365. Pancakes. A not-ordinary Thursday, thanks to the midweek sleepover...was nice to start the day with my sweetie at IHOP.



29/365. Papa's House. Took the kids to David's for the weekend. Naomi was pretty excited and talked about it all morning!




30/365. No Tiramisu for you!We went for Tiramisu cupcakes yesterday but they had run out. We got a different kind and saved them to eat today. They were yummy but I still want the tiramisu kind!



31/365. Written in the snow. James & I went out to play in the snow...we played with nerf swords for an hour on the tennis court, and I left a little note before we went in for the day!



....and I got my week four layout done! :)


That's really all...but that's a LOT so I suppose I'll get to work...and I'll see you back here tomorrow with my 200th post! :)

The One With The Quickie

Hiya bloggers! Just a quickie post from me today...it has been a crazy couple of days and I haven't had time to post! Therein lies the rub...when you are really having a good time and have lots of interesting stuff to blog about, there's no time to blog! But I'll work on getting caught up over the next few days...for the moment I'm just going to share a few layouts, all with new products on sale at Sweet Shoppe Designs today!











ok so I gotta jet...busy day planned! :) Later!

The One With The Weekend Wrap-Up

So I shared some photo yesterday of our weekend...but honestly it was such a busy weekend that I couldn't fit it all in one post. So I figured I'd share a few more photos!

That pretty much wrapped up our weekend and it was back to the grindstone. Monday means grocery shopping. Which brings me to my Project 365 photos for the last two days :)

25/365: Imagine That. Tab & I went grocery shopping and I took my camera with the assumption that today's photo would be of my grocery cart....then I ran into an old friend! We chatted for a bit and then interrupted her work to snap a photo!...what fun!

Yesterday I had a quiet day of work and then...a dinner date!

26/365. All Dolled Up. Had James over this evening for a very exciting date we've been planning...Wheel of Fortune and my infamous white chicken chili.Definitely something to dress up for right?

And now...it's Wednesday. What do you have planned for today? Will you document it in photos? I don't have anything exciting planned. I'm headed out for some fasting bloodwork...so I must get out the door before I ... cave and eat one of these cupcakes! ;)

The One With Saturday Fun!

As promised, I have no To-Do Tuesday today...I'm trying to take it easy and focus on healing! I figured I'd share some snapshots from our Saturday though. Just a trip to the park and the salon, but in the middle of January when you luck out and get a 50 degree day, it is something to celebrate! :)





















So that, in a nutshell, was our fun-filled afternoon. Really it was quite an ordinary day, but that's the best part about it! :)